


Hell Hath No Fury

by harryitscoldoutside



Category: Original Work
Genre: Action/Adventure, Canon Lesbian Character, Canon Lesbian Relationship, Drugs, F/F, Fantasy, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Female Character, LGBTQ Themes, Lesbian Character, Lesbians, Pirates, Political Parties, Politics, Pride, Romance, piratey things, slowburn, there are a shit ton of lesbians everywhere, there are also a shit ton of surprises
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2020-07-11 18:17:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 30
Words: 171,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19932415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/harryitscoldoutside/pseuds/harryitscoldoutside
Summary: Aboard the Scorned Woman, there is a crew of women that hail from all five Baethean continents. They raid merchant ships and other pirates in the dead of night and take no prisoners. Releasing captured women, killing men, and wreaking havoc whenever they are on land, the ladies of the Scorned Woman are notoriously dangerous around Baethos. When a young girl with nothing but a need to getaway. from home stumbles across the ship, she finds herself in a whole new world of steel, gold, and thievery. In this adventure, follow her into unknown political arenas, life-risking missions for gold and falling in love, not just with the open seas.





	1. An Introduction to Baethos

**Author's Note:**

> hey! im nicky! please give my lesbian pipe dream of having a romance story about fun and adventurous gals just doing things and being lesbians! if you like it go ahead and comment or leave a kudos! i love you just for clicking on my link : ) my twitter is @habitdyke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AN: Hello everyone! This is a small intro to my world! There are a few terms and measurements that are different. This also prefaces the political atmosphere! You can skip but I recommend you don't! The story starts on the next chapter

Time in Baethos was measured by suns, cycles, lengths, and classifications. Each sun is measured by 3 periods: the morning, the aftermorning, and night, each one 8 hours long. Every 25 suns was a cycle. Every 20 cycles marked a new length and every 20 lengths meant a new classification period. 

The kingdom of Baethos was formed just over 800 lengths ago. It was formed when the five continents, Aeliz, Elox, Dove Island, Efriti and the Twins, united under one rule. This union was named Baethos and it happened at the conclusion of the Great War. The Great War lasted for 35 lengths and by the end of it, the world was in ruins.

Wars, plagues, and famine had ravaged the population and deaths were counted by the millions The widespread destruction devastated each of the continents and by the time a peace agreement had been reached, over half of the world’s population had perished. The two best generals from each continent came together and negotiated a truce. 

The generals made a pact to rule over the new Baethos together and do what was best for the people. The Ten, which is what the founding generals called themselves, created the classification system as a way to keep society in line. They created a new system of government for Baethos. They also adopted the language of Elox as the common tongue and all the generals vowed to eradicate native tongues to encourage communication, trade, and peace to form a common Baethean identity.

The Ten had instituted a rigid class system and someone’s last name was their ticket in the world. There were two classes of people, those with last names and those without. The poorest and lowest peasants did not have a family title, no last name. They simply referred to each other by their birth names or nicknames. Large amounts of people having similar names was a common problem among peasants and the poor, and without the use of a last name to distinguish them, the practice of dubs arose. Dubs were assigned to an individual because of something that stood out about that person. The dubs were adjectives that ranged from physical descriptions to job titles. 

Those with last names were further divided by lesser, greater, and noble families. Smaller merchants, landowning farmers with small plots of land, and working people who could afford three meals every sun usually fell in the category of a lesser family. A life of just enough. The Greater houses were made up of more financially wealthy families with old ties in inter-realm business, small ship fleet owners, owners of vast amounts of land, more established shopkeepers, smiths, and other professions. Usually characterized by being able to afford the more unavailable or eccentric products, three-story houses with land all around, and the ability to pay servants; these greater families were also more respected within politics.

Noble houses were the richest and most powerful in Baethos. The majority of noble families came from centuries of money and power. In charge of the politics and inter-realm relations, they often were far removed from the actual needs and happenings of society. They ruled over cities and towns, were allowed to take indentured workers, could afford hundreds of servants, lived in castles, and collected taxes from the other houses. 10 noble houses were allocated to each continent. Each noble house was in charge of 35 greater houses, each greater house was in charge of 50 lesser houses and each lesser house in charge of up to a maximum of 1,000 families. 

Once society had been established, rules had been made, and the family name system was in place The Ten relinquished control of Baethos. They created a Council of Nobles that were to rule over the affairs of Baethos justly. The Council of Nobles sat ten nobles and they met twice a length for five cycles each time. The rest of the time, the Council members were at home governing. Every 20 lengths, the seats on the council would change through a vote. Every noble family on each continent would collect the votes of the 35 houses they controlled. A greater house could cast a vote for any of the ten noble families on the continent. The noble family would then consider those votes when casting their own. Each of the ten nobles then voted for two of his continent’s nobles to represent the continent on the Council. Lesser families and those with no last names did not get a vote. 

The system that was created also relied heavily on a classification system. Every 20 lengths, a new classification occurred and houses could either move up the social ladder or move down it. Here, an individual’s physical property, family size, accomplishments, wealth, and conduct of their house were all taken into consideration. Based on a refined measuring system only known by the Classifiers, houses were reclassified every 20 lengths. A peasant could aspire only to ascend to a lesser house, but lesser, greater or noble houses could be moved up or down many steps at once. So, a noble family could fall into disgrace and become peasants, losing everything and stripped of their titles. Each classification also took into account population growth and the quotas each house was allowed to oversee usually increased.

The Classifiers hailed from the Baethian Vault. The Baethean vault was both a building and an institution. It was a massive square building ascending several stories. This building housed the Classifiers, some important historians, and all of Baethean reclassification records. At the Vault, Classifiers and historians studied and learned the history of Baethos, their role in keeping Baethos in line, and how they adhered to the classification system. The Classifiers had 3,000 members that all lived and studied in the Vault for their entire lives. When one Classifier died, another was accepted into the Vault. They would arrive as babies. Learning the classification system and how to perfectly apply it was all they studied during their entire lives. 

The Vault, the Council meetings, and most of Baethean government activity took place in The Center. The Center was a peninsula attached to the Eloxian continent but it was a sovereign state. It was only about 50 kilometers from east to west and 60 kilometers from north to south. The Center had a few port cities littered around its coast but most of the political activity took place in the Main City where all the government buildings were held. 

There had been 42 previous classifications. It was the 17th length of the 42nd classification and a reclassification was looming. The political tension was brewing and families seemed anxious. Fake smiles and misrepresented niceties were the game. 


	2. The Beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey just a little authors note about ages. Remember, that each year in Baethos is 500 days long. Which means everyone is older in "earth years" than what they say. The formal is 500*age/365. So a 16 year old is actually 21.9 years old. Practically 22. Just a reminder because it can be wild to hear someone got command of a fleet at like 13. 13 would be almost 18 and so on.

She really couldn’t have explained how she had gotten herself in the situation she was in. One second she was under the awning of an herb shop, trying to catch some shade and the next two large men were grabbing her by the arms. They began to drag her and she screamed out, kicking her legs to avoid taking a step further with the men. The men were bigger than her and she was no match for their strength. The shock was replaced with fear as they continued down the road. People looked in her direction as she yelled but no one seemed fazed, no one was helping her.  
The men turned into an alleyway between the shops and pushed the girl roughly into the wall. One of the men put his hand over her mouth to keep her silent and looked to his partner.

“Boss says we don’t got to be back until sunset. Think we can take our prize for a ride before giving her in?”  
“I’ll stand watch,” the second man said and walked towards the entrance of the alleyway. 

Tears sprung to the girls' eyes as panic began to set in. She used all the strength she had to push against the hold the man had on her and did not stop thrashing. She was going to give up, her energy quickly depleted after suns of little food. Just as she was ready to stop fighting, she heard a thump. Suddenly, the man who had a tight hold on her let go and began to back away, scared. The girl looked over to find a tall woman standing over the man that was at the entrance of the alleyway. The man was unconscious and the blood coming from his head suggested that he had been hit with a hard object. 

The other man had backed into a wall, trapped in the alley. The woman approached the man and when she was within range of him, he swung. She dodged the punch with ease and kicked his knee. The man crumpled to the ground and the woman took out a dagger and hit him in the head with the hilt of it, rendering him unconscious like his friend. 

“You, girl,” the woman said after turning, “What’s your name?” 

“Ava,” the girl said without thinking. She cursed herself for being so stupid and giving up a name without hesitation. 

“Ava, what are you doing on this side of town alone?” the woman asked.

“I was looking for a place to stay for the night,” Ava confessed.

“You’re not from here.” 

It wasn’t a question but Ava shook her head to confirm the woman’s statement. 

“Figures,” the woman sighed and began walking out of the alleyway, “if you want a safe place to stay you can follow me.” 

Ava hesitated, she looked at the two unconscious men and to the woman who had just saved her. Based on the short interaction they had, Ava deduced that she wasn’t safe out here alone and would be better off with the person who had just saved her. She followed behind the woman, whose long legs made it difficult for Ava to keep pace. 

“Who were those men?” Ava asked the woman seemed to have answers.

“They’re called caps. They take women off the streets and sell them,” the woman explained in a flat tone and watched as Ava’s face registered the shock of the situation. 

“I was being taken to be sold?” 

“Aye, this district is known for being a hub for abductions. You need to know what you are getting yourself into before you travel somewhere new.”

“Apparently so,” Ava muttered to herself and followed the woman. 

They walked in silence for a while, passing the streets as the shops around them began to close. She saw some people dressed in military uniform lighting torches on the side of the road, providing light for the coming darkness of night. Children that had been out on the street began to collect their toys and head inside to eat the dinner their parents had provided. It was getting dark and Ava was getting tired, no food or shelter for the last few suns had her exhausted.

“Who are you, by the way, and where are we going?” Ava broke the silence. She realized she had been blindly following the woman without even knowing who she was or her name. Ava felt, as she usually did, that being direct was the best option. 

“It doesn’t matter who I am and I’m taking you to an inn where you’ll be safe,” the woman replied, omitting who she was. 

“It matters,” Ava pressed, “What is your name?” 

“You sure do run your mouth a lot for someone who is depending on the kindness of a stranger to make sure she stays alive,” the woman answered. 

Ava opened her mouth to protest but couldn’t come up with a smart retort. The woman was correct in a way, her mouth had gotten her into trouble on her travels here but she managed to make it out of that alive. Still, she decided to reel in the questions. Ava would have to be at peace with not knowing. 

Finally, they arrived at a small inn on the side of town that was closest to the docks. She could see the ocean and the ships littered all around the water. The woman had entered into the restaurant already but Ava stood outside admiring the setting sun for a moment. This had been her goal since she left home, make it to the ocean and book the first passage off of Elox. She took a deep breath of relief. Her voyage was far from over but she had made it through the first part. 

Walking in, she spotted the woman speaking to the innkeeper, a short woman with grey littering her black hair. Ava was beckoned over and she obeyed. 

“This is Ava. She’ll need a place to stay. Let her stay as long as she needs and get her a change of clothes. I’ll come to settle the tab next time we are in town,” the woman said to the innkeeper. 

Ava was delighted at the prospect of a place to stay and a change of clothes, she desperately needed both. At any other point in her life, she would have protested the offer of help but right now she needed to push her stubbornness aside and take advantage of the situation she found herself in. The woman turned away from them and began to walk away. 

“Wait!” Ava called out, “You’re leaving?”

“Aye,” the woman said, “Marcy will take care of you. Any questions you have I’m sure she’ll answer them. Do me a favor and stop walking around unknown places alone. At least get a weapon.” 

With that, the woman left. Ava could tell the woman was not fond of her but she could have at least stayed around a bit longer. Marcy was looking over at Ava like she was a delicate vase and while she was delicate right now, she did not appreciate it. Still, Ava offered her a warm smile which Marcy returned. 

“Here, come take a seat at the bar and we’ll get you something to eat,” She said and led Ava to a chair. 

Marcy disappeared for a few minutes then returned with a plate of hot food. Ava didn’t ever think mouthwatering could be taken literally but now she understood. The sight of food made her stomach lurch. There was fresh meat, some healthy-looking greens and what looked like a yam. It was a full plate and Ava gave her thanks before practically inhaling the meal. She hadn’t that much food at once in at least a cycle. 

“Thank you,” Ava had managed to say in between bites. 

Marcy laughed at that and shuffled around behind the bar, filling a mug for Ava. She set it down in front of Ava and Ava grabbed it.

“Is this ale?” Ava asked looking inside the mug.

“No, you do not appear to be old enough to be drinking ale. That is water,” Marcy explained.

“I am sixteen.” 

“Would you like ale then?”

“No,” Ava said and Marcy broke out into another laugh, the other patrons there looked in their direction. 

Ava's cheeks heated up at the attention and at being laughed at. She knew it wasn’t malicious but she wasn’t meaning to be funny, she just opened her mouth too much. At least according to the majority of her family. There was rarely a time when Ava was not in trouble, not that she cared much. 

“Very well then,” Marcy said, “Where are you coming from, young lady?” 

“Northern Elox,” Ava replied.

“Ah, not being specific. Looks like you are not as helpless as Xyra made you out to be.”

“Xyra? Was that the lady?” 

“She didn’t tell you?” Marcy chuckled, “She can be a bit of a closed book sometimes.” 

“I gathered as much,” Ava admitted, “Who is she?”

“A pirate,” Marcy said as she cleared the plates from in front of Ava. 

“A pirate?” Ava repeated with a raise to her eyebrow. Marcy had to be teasing her. 

“Yes, Xyra is the first mate on a pirate ship. You look shocked.” 

“Never heard of a woman pirate before.”

“Then you have not been paying attention because she belongs to a whole ship of them,” Marcy elaborated. 

“Guess I haven’t,” Ava said, quieter than before. Marcy didn’t know just how right she was. 

“You can stay as long as you need but I must ask, where are you headed? You’ve traveled far, are you going to stay in town?” Marcy asked, making conversation as she tidied up behind the bar.

“Not sure, I’m heading to anywhere that is not Elox I just want to settle somewhere new,” Ava confessed.

“Trying to get off the continent then?” Marcy asked and Ava nodded. Marcy bit at her lip in thought before she began to speak again, “Xyra told me not to pass any information along but if you are to sail off Elox you need to do it safely. The pirate ship Xyra’s on, they also function as a shelter of sorts. If you are in need of passage and have nowhere to go they’ll provide a room on the ship for you.”

Ava took in all the information. There was a possible way out for her but it would be aboard a pirate ship. One of the pirates had just saved her from being abducted though so she would probably feel safer there than anywhere else. Her hand reached down to grasp at her sack of coins. They were pirates, surely the price for crossing would be a considerable amount of her leftover money. 

“How much do they charge for passage to The Twins?” Ava asked.

“They do not charge anything,” Marcy smiled sweetly at Ava. It was truly shocking that Ava hadn’t heard of the Scorned Woman. Marcy could have sworn that every woman across all of Baethos had heard of it, longing for it to come to their shores. 

“Somehow that just seems a little too perfect,” Ava said, “Like the perfect plot to lure people in and sell them to the underground market.”

Marcy laughed, Ava was a funny one. Lively for someone who had been out of the road for what looked like multiple cycles. 

“I am being quite serious,” Ava said but her smile betrayed her.

“I know,” Marcy acknowledged, “I do not argue that it seems like a scheme to kidnap young girls but it is not. After you rest tomorrow, if you are interested in finding their ship, I can help you.” 

Ava thanked her. She would sleep on it and see how she felt in the morning. This whole trip, from her leaving home to arriving at this town, she had followed her gut feeling. Every morning she would wake up, tune in as she called it, and make a decision. In the morning, she would know. She stood up from her chair and Marcy reached across the bar and handed Ava a key. 

“Your room will be the first one once you get up the stairs. Breakfast is served until the last hour of the morning,” Marcy said and wished her a goodnight. 

Ava once again said thank you for the food and made her way up to the room. Tomorrow was a new sun.  
\--------------------------------  
Ava had rushed out of her room, returned her key, and skipped breakfast. She decided that she would skip the offer of a new outfit. She wanted to make it to the docks as early as she could. She had made a decision, the pirate ship was worth a shot. Marcy had given her all the directions needed to get to the docks and find the ship Xyra was on. It was only the 8th hour of the morning and the sun was already burning Ava as she walked to the docks. Her worn green dress was heavy and hot compared to what most of the people of the port city were wearing. Around her, people were wearing flowing gowns and loose shirts with pants that flared with the wind coming from the sea. Her leather boots were making sweat start to pool inside them. 

She took alleyways that offered shade and stuck close to where she felt the breeze coming in.  
After about a mile of walking along the coast and darting in and out of alleyways, she began to see the massive masts of merchant vessels and trading ships. Her ears flooded with the sound of people talking, bartering, arguing, and laughing. Even this early in the morning, the town was awake. In the distance, she could see the marketplace bustling with people selling to the incoming crews. For a second, the nerves she had been feeling since she woke up had slipped away and a smile took her face as she let herself get swept up in the commotion and the beautiful sight of the ocean. 

She walked until the buildings made way and transformed into a giant clearing with tents by the hundreds. All the people in the tents were selling different things: silks, seafood, sweets, boots, swords, beautiful dresses, jewelry, wine. Suddenly the coin pouch attached to her hip felt light and pathetic and she wished it was filled with gold so she could purchase anything she desired. Taking a deep breath, she pushed those thoughts out of her head. Material objects are not all there is to this world, prosperity will come with freedom, she thought to herself, one step at a time.

And she did just that. One foot in front of the other she made her way down the dock. She had to crane her head up to see some of the ships. Some were beautifully crafted masterpieces that showed impeccable practice and professionalism. Others were rundown merchant vessels that looked dangerously unreliable. She kept her eye out for anything that looked like what Marcy had described. Nothing so far, she had made it about halfway down the pier and all she had seen were ships with scary-looking men on them. 

Then she spotted it, three ships away from her stood a 170-foot black galleon with blood-red sails. The front of the ship sported a woman holding a large broadsword. There was anger carved into her features sure to strike fear when it approached enemy ships. It was bold and sure to catch the attention of any ship sailing the seas. As she approached, the figures working atop the boat became clearer. At the ramp leading up to the boat stood a tall woman. Her dark brown hair was long and slicked back, her skin looked tanned from the hours out in the sun. She had an unrolled scroll of paper in her hands as she examined it. Her eyes moved quickly from the paper to the men carrying boxes up the ramp back to the paper. It was Xyra. 

Ava, however, made no move to approach the ship. She stayed back observing. As she stood there, watching the crew move amongst the deck, she recognized that all of the people aboard the ship were women. The only men aboard were those carrying boxes onto the ship. Marcy was telling the truth, after all, an all-girl pirate ship is what it seemed to be. It took her close to a half-hour to muster up the courage to walk up to the ship. Xyra hadn’t been so fond of her the sun before. Doubt and nerves were consuming her and she had never felt more stuck. Her feet acted like cement blocks bolting her to the floor. She willed herself to calm down, she worked through her plan.

She rehearsed her story and her request for passage in her head a few times before taking a step forward. By the time Ava had made it to the boat, the men loading and unloading cargo had left and moved on to the next job. Xyra still lingered at the top of the ramp, seemingly entranced in her papers. Ava took a deep breath, inflated her chest and marched up the ramp to stand right in front of the other woman. She stood there silent, awkwardly, for ten seconds. She didn’t expect to have to speak first and now the pressure of the silence was rendering her speechless.  
Xyra sighed and lifted her gaze from the paper and took a visual stock of who was in front of her. It was the same girl she had saved the sun before. She knew Marcy probably told her about the ship and Xyra cursed her silently. “What can I help you with?” 

“Uh, I would like-” she paused for a second. All of the words she had thought of before just left her head. She composed herself and cleared her throat, “I am seeking passage out of Elox to either The Twins or Dove Island.”

“Which is it, The Twins or Dove Island,” she prompted.

“Um, it doesn't really matter. Either? Whichever if you're going to one of them,” Ava answered. 

“Sorry. We aren’t accepting any more passengers at this time.” Xyra stated and went back to looking at her paper.

The girl let out a disgruntled noise and put her hand over her coin pouch, “I can pay. I have gold and it looks like you don’t have enough crew or passengers to fill all the beds.” The girl knew she was being testy but the frustration was starting to rise. 

That caused Xyra to snap her eyes up from the papers and raise an eyebrow, “You can pay which means there will be passage for you on other ships that can better accommodate your needs. We reserve our spaces for those who need it, those who cannot pay.” 

Ava was taken aback, she felt an anger at the pit of her stomach that she hadn’t felt since she had last argued with her father. “So, you’re saying that you only take passengers who can’t pay and reject someone offering you money to cover their expenses? You do realize how preposterous that sounds? If I threw my money into the ocean right now I would have no money to pay passage, would you accept me on your ship then? You would have me waste my coins by tossing them in the sea rather than accepting it and using the money as you please? Or would I throw my coin away and still not be granted passage?” 

By the time she finished her small monologue, she was slightly out of breath. Ava stood there letting air back into her lungs and simply sitting in the silence that had created between them. Xyra crossed her hands over her chest, not amused with the rant. Just then, a girl with intimidating stride walked over and stood right next to Xyra. She had long wavy black hair, rich olive skin and donned a large hat on her head. 

“Xyra, are we being nice?” the girl that had walked up asked with a teasing tone, “We don’t make it a habit to turn a woman away that’s looking for help,” she said, facing Ava.

The new girl had black boots on, with black breeches to match. A loose flowing Killigrew shirt was worn under a long black buccaneer coat.

“No. And I have no intention of doing so,” Xyra said.

The girl next to Xyra flashed Ava a polite smile, “I’m sorry about her. Xyra, would you mind waiting for me in my quarters so we can go over inventory there?”

Xyra turned on her heel, rolled up her paper into a scroll, and walked towards what looked like the captain’s quarter. When she was out of earshot, the new girl turned and reached out a hand, “My name is Theo, I am the captain of this ship. Welcome aboard the Scorned Woman.”

Theo took a step away from the entryway to the ship and offered entry onto her ship. Ava walked onto the wooden deck and Theo started to back away. 

“I’m just going to pop on over to my quarters and talk with Xyra about port matters. I’ll be right back but you should have some lunch right now. The mess room is right down the main stairs to the right. You’ll hear the ruckus before you see it, should lead you straight there. I’ll send someone to fetch you after I tend to some business. We’ll meet to discuss a room on the ship and discuss a little more if this ship is right for you.” She was walking backward as she spoke and soon after she sped through her instructions, she turned around and followed Xyra's footsteps. 

Ava took a moment to survey her surroundings. The three masts lining the center of the boat were enormous and she wondered how anyone ever climbed to their tops. Slowly as she was still looking up, down, and all around the boat she made her way to what she assumed was the main stairs on the ship. She saw flights of stairs going both up and down but the commotion was coming from below. Nervously she made her way down the steps and paused at the bottom of them briefly, taking everything in.

Somehow in the two hours since she left the inn she had managed to find the boat she was looking for and possibly have secured passage. Xyra didn’t seem too fond of her but the captain herself had said they would meet to discuss a room here. That could only mean that she would be allowed to travel on this ship. Theo, the captain, seemed nice and welcoming which was a stark contrast to Xyra. 

This was it, she let herself breathe easily for the first time in countless suns, she just might have pulled it off. She walked into the mess hall and it was filled with about 40 women that all looked different and radiated delightful energy. Where she was from, all the girls were proper and had their hair perfectly styled by servants in the morning before squeezing into small corsets to impress men. They all looked, dressed, and talked the same but this was different. The women were different. Tall and short, all skin colors and body sizes, all types of different styles of clothing and hair. 

Ava made quick work of blending in, she was sure some people noted her presence but if they did, they didn’t comment on it. She got in line and got served a stew that looked a lot better than she would expect pirate food to look. Keeping her head down and her ears open, she walked over to an empty chair in the corner to eat her stew. The chair gave her a perfect view of everyone. She wasn’t normally this quiet and reserved, back at home she had been quite a vocal know-it-all. Always causing mischief and commotion. But the past few weeks, being on the road had taught her many lessons, including the benefits of observation. 

Women laughed and chattered and most everyone in the room branded bright smiles and boisterous voices. It was a happy chaos where an old woman with pale skin was sharing a drink and a joke with a young black woman. Nothing she had ever seen before, only read about. Free cities and ports, where those from all lands come together for no reason other than friendship and pleasure. She hadn’t talked to Theo or really knew her place or status on the boat but somehow she already felt safe. She sensed a blanket of comfort settle over her. She lifted a spoonful of stew to her mouth and took a bite. It tasted almost as good as she felt.  
\--------------------------------  
Theo shut the door behind her and fixed her glare on the figure standing by her desk. She marched forward, scowl on her face, and stood straight up in front of Xyra. Xyra was laughably taller than Theo but the disbelief and anger on Theo’s face was frightening. 

“Do you remember when Isa came to us from that small city in Dove Island?” Theo asked, calmly but through gritted teeth. Xyra just nodded, she knew where this was going. “When Talia and Yaer and Yulie and Jessie came to us? Where had they just been?” 

There was a silence after Theo’s questions. Xyra was expected to answer.

“On voyages with men,” Xyra answered slowly.

“All of them. Those animals just felt like they had the right to the girls just because they were aboard their ships. We don’t just try and run an all girl’s pirate vessel for the gold. The purpose of this ship was to rescue girls like you and me from harm. To help girls like Talia, so they never have to deal with anything like that, ever again. Safe voyages for those who can’t pay and those who can.” Theo finished and Xyra nodded. A woman of little words, Theo knew that Xyra understood. 

Theo felt the frustration leave her body and she took a few steps back then moved around Xyra and sat at her desk, “Now, I know you have your reasons for things. I need to know why my first mate was actively curving rules that we helped create together.”

Xyra moved and stood in front of the desk, “She has a last name.” 

“You have a last name. That’s not a reason to turn someone away”

“Had a last name. And she is not from a lesser house, she is from money. What can we do with a girl from a greater family? She’s probably a runaway and her lord father has sent a hundred of his cavalrymen off looking for her. I do not trust her and advise against bringing her on. I think she will bring trouble. She probably has the money to pay for a safe voyage on a different ship and leave us out of her whole situation,” Xyra justified, her arms came up to cross over her chest and she looked down at Theo.

“You haven’t even given her a chance to explain herself. You judged her solely on her appearance and her manners. If she has money let her pay us for the voyage then. Plus if her father does send one hundred cavalrymen after her, then aren’t we lucky that horses can’t swim.” Theo cracked a smile up at her First Mate, “Now, let’s get some of this paperwork over with.” 

Theo handed Xyra a stack of papers, closing the matter at hand. After a short while, Xyra and Theo had tied up all matters on land and were ready to set sail whenever they pleased. Theo motioned Xyra towards the door, “Go get her. I know you do not trust her and your sage council has been taken into consideration but I would like to speak with her before making any decisions.”

Xyra nodded and made her way out of the quarters. She knew Theo and she recognized a battle lost when she saw one. The captain had already made up her mind about transporting the girl. Xyra knew that Theo liked to approach things as the charismatic leader and would meet with the girl before anything to appease Xyra. Xyra smiled to herself, she didn’t get her way but causing the girl a minor inconvenience before being offered a room for passage was a small win.  
\-------------------------------  
A while had passed since Ava had finished her stew. Some of the people in the space had moved away from the room and resumed whatever their duties were. Many others, however, also stayed in the space. The clamor of everyone’s utensils and cups and voices banging around made it seem as if no one had left the room. Ava’s eyes looked up at the doorway as Xyra walked in. 

All of a sudden all the talking and clamoring in the room halted and everyone turned to look at Xyra. No one that had walked through the door had commanded a fraction of that attention so far. The power she seemed to hold over the women left Aval as intimidated as she had felt when she first approached Xyra. 

Xyra extended a hand and pointed straight at Ava, “You. Captain wants you,” she jerked her head in the direction of the door, bidding Ava to follow. Quickly, she left her stew on the table in front of her and maneuvered over chairs and plates on the floor to catch up to Xyra. She followed silently as they ascended the stairs. The sound of Xyra’s heavy metal toed boots boomed every time she stepped, and this was the sound that guided them to a large black door. It was the only door on the entire deck and she presumed that the captain’s quarters were larger than ten regular rooms put together. 

Xyra opened the door and walked inside and, after Ava walked in, the door was closed behind her. Theo was seated behind her desk with her legs propped up against it. There was a map that was spread out with different letters and tools littered around it. As Theo heard the door open, she removed her legs from the desk and sat upright, her hand coming down to her stomach and straightening her shirt. 

“Welcome, thanks for being patient. Just had some last-minute port matters to discuss with Xyra,” Theo said, smiling. 

“When is the ship leaving?” the girl asked.

“We set sail as soon as the sunsets. We prefer to leave in the cover of darkness,” Theo replied, “I want to apologize for earlier. Would you mind if I asked a few questions?”

Aval shook her head. 

“Great. Where are you from?”

“North Elox. The city of Pious,” she replied with ease, many people along her travels had asked her that. 

“Where are you trying to go? You’re a long way from home,” Theo said.

“I’m just trying to get Dove Island or The Twins. I’m sorry for bothering you if you are not going there. I really didn’t mean to make this much commotion” 

Theo waved her hand and cut off the girl, “No apologies necessary, we are heading to the south of Dove Island but stopping along the narrow sea in The Twins first. So whenever we get to the city you want, you may disembark.” 

Xyra rolled her eyes at the promise of passage given Ava. Theo had asked her two questions and deemed that enough to appease Xyra and her objections. Ava, on the other hand, beamed at the news. 

Knowing the Captain was through with questioning, Xyra spoke up, “You must pay for your passage. Seven gold to take you to The Twins and eleven for Dove Island.”

The girl’s face fell, “I, uh, I have only ten coins. I-I can pay for the voyage to the Twins and find a way to get the rest if I need to go further.” Her hands went straight to her coin pouch and she began to take out what she had. 

“No,” Theo glared at Xyra. Ava was flustered and the heartbreak was clear on her face, “We don’t need the money. Keep it for yourself. You may need it in the future and we have enough. Ten gold coins won’t make a difference to us.”

The girl looked between the both of them and broke out in a huge grin, “So I can come? I can sail with you?” 

Theo nodded and returned the grin, “Welcome aboard the Scorned Woman, I’ll send someone to make up your quarters and fetch you when it’s ready. Just stick around the deck area. Don’t leave the ship because we’ll leave without you.” 

Ava got out of her chair and reached out to shake Theo’s hand, “I will stay on the deck,” her smile was still plastered onto her face as Theo shook the outstretched hand. 

“Wait,” Theo laughed, standing up from her chair. She waited for the girl to turn around before asking, “I never got your name.” 

“My name is Ava. Ava Ableworth.”


	3. Pants

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey!! like always welcome hello I hope you like this! the story is slowly picking up!!! I promise there is action in the next chapter. my twitter is @backtoyoubfs!! pls lmk how im doing if you have anything to say!! comment or kudos if you want!! love everyone who reads!! 
> 
> ps!! I would recommend looking up what the outfits are if you want a better picture of things im sorry :( also!! pro-tip for ages. to get a more accurate age to what we know there is an equation. 500xAge/365= Earth Real Life Age. So a 10-year-old in Baethos would be 13 years old. A 16-year-old would be around 21. People in baethos are considered a lot older the younger they are. At a decade a kid is considered to start puberty and at 15 they are able to function as a legal and independent citizen. Average lifespans are around 50 years old and those that live until they are 60 are considered old and lucky.

Ava followed the advice she was given by Theo. Stay on the deck. Don’t get left behind. She thought to herself. It was the simplest thing she’d had to do since she left home. The sun was lowering in the sky and dark was only a few hours away. She walked around the deck, slowly, taking in her surroundings. No one was out here. At least before, there were people scattered about the deck but now it seemed desolate. She made her way to the edge of the ship and looked over it as the people on the docks finished up their work. At that moment, Ava felt relaxed. Something she had not experienced in a while. As she leaned against the edge of the deck and became entranced in watching the people below, she moved her neck from side to side to ease the tension there. A quick relief soon settled over the stretched muscles of her neck and Ava found a smile resting on her face. 

In the months before leaving home, everything had become so chaotic and tense. She hadn’t felt peace at home or on the journey south. Ava knew the dangers of getting caught up in a false sense of security but this felt different. This felt guaranteed. No men were to be found on the ship, at least not in plain sight and no one but Xyra had seemed to notice or mind her presence. As for Xyra, something told her that her captain would not be happy if something were to happen to her passenger at Xyra’s hand.

Her thoughts were interrupted by footsteps echoing against the empty deck. She spun around and saw one of the women she had been observing in the mess hall earlier. The woman was tall and had paler skin, similar to Ava’s. She wore a large leather chest piece, breeches, and sandals. Her outfit was certainly not a combination she had ever seen before but she figured that fashion and matching clothing items weren’t a priority here, lucky them. She had silver hair tied back in a loose braid and was approaching from the other side of the deck. Ava watched as her strides carried her far. She was broad-shouldered and intimidating, there was no denying that she looked stronger than most men she had encountered. She had a brown sack in her hand and as she got closer she smiled. 

“My name’s Morgana,” the woman said once she got close enough. 

“I’m Ava,” she replied.

“Great,” she handed the sack to Ava who accepted it. It was heavier than Ava expected and she had to grab it with both hands. “I’m the quartermaster. Well, I’m not the quartermaster forever. Just until Theo chooses a new quartermaster.”

Morgana finished and motioned for Ava to follow before she began walking again. Ava followed and tried to keep up, falling a few paces behind, “What happened to the last quartermaster?”   
“She died,” Morgana said bluntly just as Ava managed to catch up. Ava was at a loss for a reply. Morgana let out a loud laugh and brought a strong hand to pat her on the back, “She fell in love with some guy in Aeliz and left. It’s been close to 40 suns ago and she still hasn’t named anyone.” 

“Maybe she wants you and is just testing you,” Ava offered, following Morgana to the main staircases. As she walked up the stairs she still saw no one, the ship looked deserted.

“No, I’m not a good quartermaster. I’m worth more in the battle than tending to rooms. Ship’s got a pretty light crew now so it’s not too much extra work.” Morgana stopped after climbing two flights of stairs and took a right down a hallway of rooms. 

“I noticed it looks pretty empty. Where is everyone?” Ava asked as they came to a stop in front of a room on the right side of the hallway. 

“Well, right now most of the crew is asleep. Getting as much beauty rest as they can before the sun sets. Ship is sailing straight through the night so the crew needs sleep. It’s hard work navigating a ship,” Morgana pulled a silver key out of the pocket of her breeches and put it in the keyhole of the door in front of them.

“Why aren’t you sleeping then?” Ava questioned again.

Morgana laughed and opened the door before walking in, “Aren’t you a curious one. I don’t waste my time on ship shit. I train. Like I said, worth more in battle. I’ll sleep like a baby right through the night.”

Without another word, she placed the key on the small desk in the room and exited. With that Morgana was gone, her long strides guiding her down the narrow hallway back to the staircase. Ava felt the sack slowly drag out of her hands. She rushed inside and set the sack on the bed. There was a little bit of light filtering into the room, the open door provided some relief from the darkness. Looking around, the room was bigger than she had expected. When she imagined her journey across the ocean, it had been a bit different. She imagined stuffed barracks under the deck, sick men and women moaning through the night, soiled hammocks spread haphazardly through a room. This had certainly been nowhere near that, she had a whole room to herself that even had a lock and key. 

There was a small dresser at the foot of a small bed that sat on the left side of the room. On the right side, a desk, a chair, a small table that looked to be most functional as a nightstand, and a large candle. What surprised her the most was the window. A small square in the middle of the back wall of her room, the edges around the window produced the most light in the room. She walked over to it and pulled the wooden cover aside, outside she saw the empty deck below. The sun had now begun to set quicker and she knew that soon it would be bustling with working pirates. She had always dreamed of voyaging on a ship and being able to look out of the window to a clear view of the ocean. This was still more than enough though. She still had some of the ocean in view and felt safe knowing she could peek out to see any danger if she heard a commotion. 

She went over to her bed and saw that it was a bare mattress on a wooden bed frame. It was small but it made do because she was also small. For now, she thought. Ava wanted to be as big as some of the girls she had seen earlier. Big arms and bigger thighs. She wanted some meat on her. She had been waiting for a time in her life that she could go back for seconds without a scolding about her figure and finding a suitor. 

She pulled the brown satchel towards her and opened it. Inside she found a pillow, a blanket, some parchment, a long piece of what appeared to be twine, and a small canteen filled with water. Ava felt a laugh escape her mouth and she put her hand over it quickly, tears welled up in her eyes all of sudden and she felt a whirlwind of emotions hit her all at once. Relief, sorrow, joy, hope, panic, gratefulness. She sat down on her bed and took a few deep breaths and attempted to decipher what she felt. Ava had a locked room she could control with her key, spacey accommodations, and they even provided her with water? She hadn’t even paid anything. Panic and doubt began to cross her mind, what was the catch? Why was everything so easy? She pushed that down and instead let the relief set in. 

She had gotten up that morning determined to make it off of Elox and she had succeeded. Ava wanted to let out a scream of relief, or joy. Instead, she opted to get up and make her bed and close the window she had left open. She walked to her door, turned her lock, and immediately began to undress to her light underdress. Once the dress had hit the floor, she felt like she could breathe. She touched her sore ribs and delicate skin through the thin layer and began to stretch her body slowly. Most of the inns that she stayed in were run down and not many of them had rooms where one could be alone. Those that did oftentimes were riddled with peeping holes or faulty locks. She hadn’t dared to bathe or undress anywhere along the road except 30 setting suns ago at a nice woman’s home. 

She smelt horrendous, she knew that but everyone also smelt quite putrid around these parts. At first, it was liberating, being able to be filthy and making her own rules but now she craved a warm bath and a nice brush for her curly hair. She folded her dress, placed her pouch on top of it and tucked it into the top drawer of the dresser, placed her boots by the door, then grabbed the satchel she had come with and hung it on the chair. A tidy room meant she could relax for just a small while. She laid in her bed and closed her eyes. A small moment to recollect her thoughts was what she originally had intended. However, as she felt her sore body sink into the comfort of the mattress, all thought of the future faded away. All Ava could think about was about how welcoming the bed was and quite quickly, sleep overtook her. 

\------------------

She woke up in the same disoriented state as she had been experiencing since she left home. There was barely any light in the room. The sun was probably just about to set and if she got out on the deck she would be able to catch the ship leaving port. She shot up in bed and her body protested, her hips ached and her ribs were sore. She suddenly was hit with how grimy she felt, dried sweat everywhere. Her hair tangled up from weeks of not caring for it. A bath and a brush was a priority right now, but what accommodations did a pirate ship even have for keeping clean? 

She would have to explore the ship when everyone was asleep next, and also maybe find someone to unload all of her questions on. She needed to figure out how to light the candle in her room and where to find some ink for her parchment paper and where to find a hairbrush. Ava didn’t want to be a burden though, so she opted to try and figure out whatever questions she had on her own. Maybe, while everyone was working she could sneak into the background and just watch to see what others did. 

Right, that was going to be the plan. She got up and found her dress and began pulling it up, it was heavy and dirty and she was very close to just walking out in her thin undergarments. She then seriously contemplated just walking outside barefoot because the last thing she wanted to do was put on those damned boots. But wood and splinters and bare feet crossed her mind so she opted to sit on her bed and pull on her boots as quickly as she could. Looking around her room, she stuffed her satchel in the dresser drawer, made her bed, then made sure she had nothing left in sight. If someone were to break in here, it would look empty and they would move on. It’s not like she had anything valuable aside from the gold, but it was something she had gotten used to doing. 

Ava grabbed her key and made her way out. After locking the door behind her, she made her way down the dark hallway and was surprised to hear no noise and feel the boat rocking gently. Was everyone still asleep? It was dark, wouldn’t they have to leave soon? She crept back to the main staircase and descended until reaching the deck. She walked out onto it and could not believe her eyes. 

The ship was in the middle of the ocean and the sun was just beginning to rise, not set. Off at a small distance, Ava could see an island. Closer though, she spotted a figure a few yards away. The woman turned around and Ava could see it was Theo. Theo made her way over to Ava with a smile.

“Good Morning,” she said, “I was worried you had been left behind but Morgana assured me she had led you to your quarters.”

Ava let out a small laugh and felt her mouth mimic Theo’s smile, she was being teased, “I have no idea what came over me last night. I fell asleep as soon as I got into the room. When I woke up, I thought only a small-time had passed and I would be able to catch the sunset.”  
Theo laughed at the confession and nodded, “I’m sure your travels wore you out. We get many passengers who don’t emerge from their cabin for many suns after they arrive. It gets pretty dark in there. Easy to wander into a deep sleep.” 

Ava nodded and looked around, “Can I go over to the edge?”

“Aye, of course,” Theo smiled and began walking to the edge of the deck, “We are anchored in right now.”

“Why are we stopped?” Ava asked as they arrived at the edge and she peeked over. Deep blue waters below her were nothing like she had ever seen before. 

Theo watched her, amused at the childish expression of wonder on Ava’s face. Theo didn’t remember the first time she found herself surrounded by beautiful water but she was sure her expression was the same as Ava’s. Taking a page out of Ava’s book, Theo made her way to the edge next to Ava and looked out to the water.

“Over there,” Theo pointed out to the horizon about a 20-minute rowboat ride away was the Island Ava had spotted before, “We’ve got some pirate business to do on that island”   
“Pirate Business?” 

“Treasure,” Theo turned away from the ocean and placed her back against the edge, facing Ava.

“Oh,” Ava said, “Are you messing with me?”

Theo shook her head and laughed, “No. We’re pirates. Have you not heard songs of us? Tales of plundering villages and seeking treasures?” 

Ava hadn’t thought about it like that, she supposed. She had a room to herself, everyone seemed nice, the food tasted amazing, everyone smelled somewhat decent, and she had seen no sword fights or nasty disagreements yet. The ship was fancier than she had ever expected a pirate ship to be so, yeah, maybe she had lost sight of the fact that she was on a pirate ship.   
“No. Obviously, I have heard of pirates but-” Ava thought of the right way to ask but couldn’t land on it, “-are you like real pirates?”

Theo didn’t seem annoyed with Ava, instead, she laughed again. Further confirming to Ava the fact that they could possibly be not real pirates. A pirate would have made her walk the plank for questioning their skills. Theo shrugged, “Depends on what that means. What’s a real pirate to you?”

Ava knew Theo was just playing around but she saw it as an opportunity to gain perspective on what she was to expect from this place, “You steal things?” 

“Aye, we raid other ships and steal from people on land. We have rules though, a general crew code,” Theo answered.

“Do you sink other ships?” Theo nodded. “You seek treasure?” Theo nodded and gestured towards the island. “Do you kill people?” Theo nodded once again.

“As I said, we have rules for all of these. Something to ensure controlled chaos. It’s not rules anyone is really opposed to following, either. Helps us all with our conscience,” Theo explained. The nervousness behind Ava’s voice when she asked if Theo’s crew killed people made Theo offer up some assurances. She didn’t want her passengers worried. The purpose of the pirate ship was to be a haven for the needs of any woman. Pirating was the way to keep the purpose alive. 

“What are the rules?”

“Become a part of my crew and you’ll find out,” Theo joked, “You’re a funny one. Not shy at all, are you? Sometimes it takes weeks for some of the girls to come out of their shell. What’s your story?” 

“Sorry. You have to be a part of my crew to find that out,” Ava quipped back. 

“Fair enough. Got any other questions for me? Any questions about my pirate-y-ness or qualifications to navigate the oceans of Baethos? Possibly some ship questions,” Theo poked.   
“Nothing I would bother the captain of the ship with.”

“We don’t do that here, the whole rank thing. If I’ve got time, I help whoever needs it. The crew is asleep and I’m giving them a few hours rest before we set out for the island. You must have a lot of questions and no one around to answer,” Theo acknowledged. 

“I mean, I just have a few questions. Nothing too hard,” Ava said, “I’ve noticed it is a bit dark in the room. How do I go about lighting the candle?”

Theo nodded and pushed herself off the edge of the deck, “Come this way I’ll show you.” Theo began walking back towards the main staircase and Ava followed right alongside. They walked down towards the room where she had eaten an early supper the sun before. Inside the mess, she began to smell a hearty breakfast being cooked and her stomach made an embarrassing growl. 

Theo looked over at Ava, eyebrow raised, “You’re starving. Let’s see if Rose can serve you anything.” Theo walked behind the counter to where the same older hunched-over woman, who had served her stew yestersun, was standing. Ava assumed that the woman was Rose and Rose was the chef on the Scorned Woman. Theo wrapped Rose in a hug while Ava watched from the other side of the counter. Rose pulled away from Theo and swatted her chest with a dishrag. 

“Morning to you too, Rose. We’ve got a fresh face here this morning who didn’t wake up for supper. Got anything made yet?” Theo asked and Rose nodded before silently beginning to scoop up various food items from around the kitchen. Ava saw her scoop up some scrambled eggs, a piece of pink meat she assumed to be ham and a loaf of bread that looked a little stale. As Rose assembled two plates of breakfast, Theo walked over to the counter and faced Rose on the opposite side. 

“If you need your candle lit and don’t have your own tinder kit, just bring it down here to the kitchen and Rose will light it for you.” Theo pointed to the small fire contained by a small metal furnace, “But if she’s not here there should always be just enough of a fire going to light the piece of twine that should’ve been in your bag to then light the candle.”

“Is that safe? A fire unattended on a wooden ship?” Ava asked. Theo smiled a large goofy smile and Rose snorted behind her. 

“Smart girl,” she said in a thick accent. 

“You ask some very good questions, Ava. Did you know that?” Ava felt her cheeks heat up and she fidgeted with her feet as Theo continued, “There is a flue-chute that carries the smoke up and Rose knows what she’s doing with the fire. Don’t worry.”

Rose tapped Theo on the shoulder and outstretched the two plates to her. Theo grabbed them and thanked her then walked out from the kitchen and settled down on a small table by the entrance, “Come, sit, eat.”

Ava obeyed the command and walked over. She quickly began making work of the food as Theo ate relatively slower. Once Ava had finished she looked at Theo’s plate and felt a tad ashamed at how she must’ve looked. Ava’s plate was wiped clean but Theo had barely made it through her eggs. She probably thought Ava had no table manners. 

“You look concerned, you alright?” Theo prompted before taking a bite of the bread. 

“I apologize for eating so fast, I must have forgotten my manners,” Ava bowed her head apologetically. 

“We’re on a pirate ship, lass,” Theo pointed out, “Pay manners no mind.”

Ava nodded and watched Theo as she ate. Her shaggy brown hair wasn’t hidden under a captain’s hat like it had been the sun before. Also, she had removed her jacket since the last time Ava saw her. The shirt she was wearing looked expensive and specifically tailored to her. Freckles lined her cheeks and nose from her time out in the sun and her skin was tanned where her shirt opened at her chest. 

Theo finished her plate and put a hand on her stomach then called out thanks to Rose. She stood up and Ava followed her lead. 

“Anything else?” Theo asked

Ava nodded slowly, “I’m not sure if this is possible and I have money if it’s an inconvenience but is it possible if I could have a change of clothes and maybe a bath?”

“I don’t know about a bath but I’m sure Tuni can find a way to help you rinse off. As for clothes, I’m not sure we have any lying around but I might.” Theo took a glance over Ava and nodded, “I bought some black slops and a black shirt at the markets a while ago and they were too long for me. Seems like you might be tall enough.”

Ava was truly taken aback by the hospitality of Theo. She was waiting for the catch, for the strong-arming into something she didn’t want, for the return favor, “You don’t have to. I can just wait until we are in the next town and I’ll purchase something.” She reasoned with Theo but Theo shook her head.

“Purchase it from me then. Two silvers,” Theo knew that she had paid far more than that for her outfit, but the green dress Ava wore looked like it belonged in Rose’s furnace.   
Ava considered this for a moment. Theo swore she could see the thoughts battling it out in Ava’s head.

“Fine. Two silvers. But this is the last charity donation I want during this voyage.” Ava conceded and Theo extended her hand for a handshake. 

“Deal.”

Ava reached out and shook Theo’s hand, “Okay. Where is Tuni? Or what is Tuni?” 

Theo laughed and began walking then motions her to follow, “Tuni is our healer. The infirmary is the only other door on the deck.” 

Theo made her way up the stairs and walked out onto the deck. She crossed the open deck until she came to the other side of the Galleon where the deck raised once again and provided an extra story of storage and shelter. Surely enough, the only other door on the whole deck was straight across from the captain's quarters and it apparently housed Tuni. Theo knocked on the door, waiting for a beat, then opened the door and walked in. Ava followed her inside and saw a young blonde woman sitting on the far right of the room. 

“Good Morning Cap,” the girl flashed a warm smile then stood up and made her way over.

“Good Morning Tuni,” Theo responded.

Tuni placed her hands on Theo’s cheeks, brought her face forward and kissed her forehead. 

“You have not been getting sleep, child.” Theo simply smiled at her and pulled Tuni's hands off of her face slowly.

“Enough about me, I’ve brought you company.” 

Tuni nodded quickly and turned to Ava, “You must be the fresh face, Ava. Morgana told me about you. I’m Fortune. It is so nice to meet you. You look rested, child. What a pleasant thing! Sometimes the sea brings some wretchedly sleepless nights for those inexperienced to her wiliness. ” 

Ava nodded, “I slept well last night, yes, thank you. It is nice to meet you too, Fortune.”

“Oh! So polite. So sweet. Tell me, child. What do you need?” the short woman looked up at Ava with wild, inquisitive eyes. Ava was at a loss for words and looked over to Theo for help.

“She needs to wash up. She’s been on the road and needs a bath,” Theo helped.

“Right. Right. No baths right now, we are conserving water for the long journey. But! I can bring you a pail of warm water and a nice clean washrag. I’ll even find ya some fragrant soap from Rose’s secret stash. Right. Off I go,” without another word, Fortune was dashing out of the room. 

Ava watched her go, perplexed by the character she had just witnessed. Theo was fondly smiling and then she fixed her gaze at Ava, “Fortune is fun. The most genuine person you’ll ever meet, probably the most caring too but I think she is also one of the most eccentric people you’ll come across. Come, I’ll fetch you the clothes before she comes back.” 

Theo exited the room and Ava followed, “How old is she? She called us both children but she looks younger than my sister.” 

Theo laughed, “21 lengths, that one. I think she thinks she’s lived a thousand lengths. Wouldn’t be surprised if she had, in a different life.”

They made it across the deck quickly and as Theo went inside, Ava glanced around the ship. She was beginning to see people emerging onto the deck and could begin to hear the clattering of plates from the mess below. The sun was higher now and its subtle morning beam cast a warm glow on everything she could see. Before long, Theo had emerged with the black garments in hand. 

“Looks like people are getting ready for a treasure hunt,” Ava commented.

“Aye, busy sun ahead of them. Everyone is huntin’ except for Rose, Tuni, Misses Yurwa down in the storage rooms, and you. They don’t leave the ship much unless there is an easy ramp to land.”

“You’re taking the rowboats?” Ava questioned.

“Aye. All of them.” 

“Can I come?”

“‘Fraid not, missus. Passengers aren’t allowed on pirate type missions.” 

“What if you leave me all alone here and I steal your gold? Or go through your office for secrets to sell to the enemy,” Ava rationed, “Taking me is for your own safety.”

Theo stopped in front of the infirmary and handed Ava her clothes, “Almost convincing enough. Except I can just lock my office to avoid being sold out and you wouldn’t steal. Too risky because the blame would be pinned on you when we found out. You would be smart to try and do it when everyone is around. That’s when I should keep an eye on you.” 

Ava rolled her eyes playfully and stomped her foot, imitating a small tantrum, “Fine, I’ll just stay here and plot my major gold heist. And to think you gave me an expensive outfit for so cheap.” 

Theo laughed and pushed the door to the infirmary open, “Go on and enjoy your tiny pail bath.”   
Ava laughed and walked inside before Theo closed it and began walking up to the helm of the ship. The girl was charming and funny and Theo had no idea where she had come from. Usually, it took weeks to get girls to come out on the deck, eat with others, and ask questions. Ava had begun to do it after one night. She offered up nothing about herself though. Not where she came from or what she was doing in Asher’s Cay or why she needed a ship off of Elox. If Ava wanted that information to be known, she would tell someone Theo reasoned. 

Once Theo arrived at the helm, she found Xyra there. Xyra had a look of concentration on her face and was staring down at a piece of paper in her hand. It was probably an inventory list. After the island, the journey ahead of them was a long one. Ten suns on a pirate ship is a stretch in terms of resources and food but they’ve done far worse trips with many more people. That didn’t stop Xyra from worrying though, Xyra never stopped worrying. 

“Are we ready to disembark ahead of the rest of them?” Theo asked.  
Xyra looked up from her paper and nodded, “Aye, Captain.”

“Good. Let’s go. I want to find it and get out of here before Espbar gets here with his men. They were only 3 suns out and we wasted a lot of time at Barian.”

Xyra nodded and turned to some women and screamed some orders and they marched off to complete what was asked of them, “Let’s go.”

\------------------

Ava did not have to wait long before Tuni had come back in. In one hand she held a small wooden pail that had a bit of steam rising from the water within. Her other hand clutched a small white rag and a white square.

“Wonderful! You are still here. I’ve got the stuff!” She made her way over to a wooden screen at the edge of the room and set everything down, “You can wash up behind this.”

Ava made her way over with the clothes still in her hand, “Thank you, Tuni. This is very nice of you.” 

“My pleasure, child. Now I’ll be off in my nook. If you need anything just give me a shout, sweets,” Tuni backed away and made her way back to the chair Ava had first encountered her on. 

Ava stepped behind the screen and slowly began taking off the dress she had on. She was thinking of giving it to Rose as an offering to the food gods that lived inside her furnace, let the filthy things burn. Stripping her boots and her undergarments next, she shoved all of her clothing items off to a corner. Picking up the washrag she dipped it in the water. It felt hot and welcoming against her hand. She soaked it in water and dripped it over her body not letting the clean rag come into contact with her skin. She repeated the dunking and wringing process until all of her body was wet then she took the small fragrant square of soap and began rubbing it all over her body. She felt bad for Rose because by the time Ava was done scrubbing her body as thoroughly as she wanted the soap was as good as gone. 

Once she was done, she repeated the same process of dunking and wringing one body part at a time. Once she had washed away the grimy bubbles on one body part she would soak the rag again and scrub her skin. She wanted her water to stay as clean as possible. There was no point in bathing if the water one used to clean themselves was dirty. She repeated this process until her whole body had been clean. Face, neck, body, toes. It took what felt like ages before she finished and once she put away the washrag there was a sizable puddle under her. About half of her pail remained full and she decided to wash her hair with it if she managed to find a brush.   
Ava realized she had nothing to dry herself with and had to stand behind the screen, exposed until she dried. Once she did, she ran into another problem. She would have to wear her clothes with no undergarments as her underwear were not only dirty from weeks of travel but also were now wet from the puddle that had made its way over to her clothes. She looked down at herself as she thought through her only option, reaching up with her hand to cup her breasts. She shrugged to herself, she wasn’t exactly the biggest in that area so wearing a shirt with nothing under would be fine. She was pretty sure between the shirt being so loose and the wind being so windy she could get away with it and no one would tell. And even if she couldn’t get away with it, she honestly didn’t see the problem. It was all women on here, what was the worst that could happen. Pretty sure in Theo’s rules there was something against being rude or harassing a passenger. 

As for the pants, she could not wait. She had never worn pants before and it was all she had ever wanted to do. If she wasn’t always under surveillance from her parents or servants she would have snuck into her brother’s room to steal his before she left. When no one was watching, when she was all alone in her room, she planned to make an absolute fool of herself dancing around in the pants. She was suddenly grateful to have an excuse to ditch her underwear for this. The first time wearing pants and nothing underneath them felt like a risk. It felt pirate-y. 

Once she was dry she slipped on the clothes. It was soft and comfortable and she shook out her legs in the pants. Twirling and jumping, she spent a few moments relishing in the fact that a skirt wasn’t lifting and making her uncomfortable. 

“Are you alright love?” A voice called out.

“Oh! Uh! Yes! Thank you I will be right out,” She answered and covered her face to keep herself from laughing. She felt alive. Free. Bloody Pants, she thought. 

She looked at the puddle she had made and then at her dirty clothes. She bent down and used her clothes to mop up all the water off of the floor and scooped it up. She walked out with it in her hands and walked towards Tuni.

“Uh, is there anywhere I can put this? I made a mess.” Ava admitted.

Tuni laughed, “Hand it to me. I’ve got just the place.” 

Ava gave it to her and Tuni walked out with it in her hands. She wondered where she was going to put it. Hopefully not the ocean, that did not seem okay. She took a seat on one of the chairs near Tuni’s designated one awaiting her return. It was taking a long while and it had been close to an hour that Ava had been sitting there. Ava could not imagine what Tuni would have been up to. She wanted to leave but Tuni seemed resourceful so Ava thought to ask where she would be able to find a hairbrush to use after she washed her hair with the rest of the water. Her hand lifted to her hair and untied it from the bun it had been kept in for a while. Her curly red hair was well known around where her family was from and she did not want to risk being recognized with it. 

When she untied her hair though, instead of falling into the long curls it used to, it just fell into a short stiffened knot. As she passed her hand along it and felt the size of the knot, she began to feel tears falling from her eyes. She knew it had gotten worse and it would take a bit of work to get it untangled but this!!. There was no working through this. She was going to have to cut her hair and she felt the sobs rising in her chest. She leaned forward and put her head in her hands trying to contain herself. 

Her hair had always been her pride. If she had anything to offer it was her hair. When she didn’t grow into a nice body like her sisters, her mother commented that she was lucky her hair made her so beautiful. At least a boy would marry her then and bring the family honor and new allegiances. It was the first thing people complimented her on. It was her most distinguishable feature and now it was a matted mess. Of course, this would be the moment Tuni decided to walk in. 

“Ava?” Tuni asked in a panic, “Sweets, what happened? Are you hurt?”

Ava shook her head and sat up, “I’m okay,” she wiped her face and took a deep breath, “I’m fine I just- I just needed a second.”

Tuni pulled up her chair next to Ava and place her small hand on Ava’s knee, “What is going on? You look full of sorrow.”

That inspired a new round of tears and Ava didn’t know what had come over her. She had not cried in so long and it felt like this was a release of everything she had built up. It was a ball that was rolling down a hill, too fast to stop. She cried for a few minutes, unable to stop herself. Tuni said nothing, only offered a soft touch to ground her. Somehow, she knew Ava did not need talking or questions. Once she had stopped crying, her eyes were puffy and her nose was bright red. 

Ava finally looked up at Tuni and found a warm smile reflecting at her. “I’m sorry.”

“No apologizing, Ava. I know the reason for your pain. Let me help,” Tuni got up and went to a cupboard. She pulled out scissors and walked over to Ava.

“Okay,” Ava said. It had to happen, but she wasn’t ready. She was glad there were no mirrors in her room so she would not have to face it every time she was in there. Maybe she would grow to like it. She hoped she would. 

“You still have water left over from your rinse?” 

Ava nodded. 

“Good, we’ll give your hair a good washing when I’m done. I’ve got some nice oils and perfumes to put in there that I got from the market yestersun and Morgana would not let me use it on her.” Tuni giggled excitedly, “Oh! I cannot wait.” 

Ava was glad that Tuni was getting joy from this. At least one of them was. She began and took the scissors to Ava’s hair. She chopped off the giant knot in the middle of her hair and then Ava lost track of what Tuni was doing to her hair. She was snipping and cutting and mumbling to herself for a few minutes and then she was finished. 

“Okay. Up, up. Come with me over here,” Tuni put down the scissors then rushed over to where she had washed up. She grabbed the pail and hauled it to a medical bed, “Lay on here with only the nape of your neck down on the bed. I need your head to be off of it.” 

Ava had no idea what Tuni was trying to do but she did not question it. She sat up and brought a hand up to her hair as she walked over. It was short but she still felt some curls. She laid down on the bed as instructed and Tuni shuffled around the room. She grabbed an empty bucket and placed it on the floor under Ava’s head and brought a nice smelling jar with her. Ava watched from the side of her eye as Tuni dipped a cup in the water and poured it over Ava’s head. She repeated this until her hair was completely wet and then began to wash it with the jar of a sweet-smelling concoction. 

Ava got lost in the feeling of having her hair move and her scalp breathe. Before long, her hair was being rinsed and then dried off. 

“Up,” Tuni commanded and Ava obeyed.

Tuni squealed and continued to towel off Ava’s hair, “It looks so good! And red! And shiny! Oh, Ava, you’ll love it darling.”

“Can I see?” She asked.

“No. Not yet. I have this magnificent oil! I got it in Asdrenair. They have the most beautiful hair there and they use this in it. We have to let it dry and then I can put it in.”

Ava just nodded and let Tuni keep talking. She told stories of her travels and talked a lot about Morgana and Theo and a lot of people she didn’t know. About half an hour passed and finally, Tuni brought out the oil. She dabbed a bit on her palms and got to work on her hair. Tuni was making small quips and comments about her hair and the oil and the wonderful smell and when she finally pulled away, Ava was laughing at her antics and playing along with her comments. 

“Here. Wait there. I have this looking glass Morgana found me a length ago,” Tuni dug back in the cupboard she had been in before and pulled out a small handheld mirror and held it out to Ava. 

Ava’s mouth gaped a little and she had to turn her head a few times before even blinking. Who was this in front of her? She could see a bit of the smooth black shirt in the mirror and how it contrasted her short red hair. Her curls were there, thick and bouncy but so short. She looked like a shaggy-haired boy and when she shook her head then went back and forth. She laughed and then stood up and hugged Tuni. 

“Thank you. Thank you. I love it. Thank you.”

Tuni simply laughed and clapped, delighted with her work. 

Ava thanked her about fourteen more times before she even started to make her way out. Once she was all out of gratitude, she headed towards the door. 

“Wait. Take this. It's for you. It doesn't work well on my hair but you can use it instead,” Tuni placed the oil in her hand. “Take joy in something I couldn’t.”

Ava smiled and nodded and already knew better than to protest at Tuni. She took the oil, thanked her one last time, and made her way out of the cabin. Her free hand went up to her hair and ran through it. She loved it. It was symbolic. It was that moment in her favorite book where the commoner becomes the beginnings of a hero. Showered, refreshed, and growing happier by each passing hour, she set out to explore the empty ship.


	4. Treasure

Ava had left Tuni’s and walked back to her room before realizing she left her key where she had washed up. When she made it back to Tuni’s, she stayed for longer than she was expecting, listening to Tuni talk about a myriad of things. Once she finally made it back to her room with her key and sat on her bed she felt sleepy. She had slept through the whole night yet her body was inviting her back into the bed. Asking for more rest. To avoid giving in to sleep, she stood up and decided to explore the boat. There would be time for sleep later, everyone had been saying they were gearing up for a long journey and she didn’t imagine there was much to do on a ship in the middle of the ocean. 

She picked her key back up from where she left it and searched around the room for something to help fasten her key around her neck. The only thing she could think about was the piece of twine she could need in the future for lighting a candle. Suddenly, she remembered. She was wearing pants and if she was not mistaken, pants had pockets. Reaching down and sliding her hands down the sides of her pants she found them. She slipped her key in one of them and made her way back out of the room. 

She made it to the main staircase but went up instead of down to the deck. The staircase appeared to go below the deck for one floor and upwards for two floors from the deck to the cabin, to a latch. The latch door turned on its hinges and made a thump. She emerged from the opening to an observation deck. When she stood on it she got a beautiful view of the ocean all around her. Further examining the deck, she saw a small ladder going up. She took it up and found the helm of the ship. A massive wheel and other devices unknown to her were littered across the surface, she assumed they all helped steer the ship. She stood for a second in front of the wheel and placed her hands on it. 

A huge grin came across her face and she imagined herself with a captain's hat on and the wind blowing her short curls all over as she navigated her very own ship. She stepped back a few moments later in an effort to avoid getting caught doing something embarrassing. She continued to walk around the helm, running her hand across the surface of things she came across. At the back of the deck, there was a latch that she didn’t know how to open or where it led, she assumed it ran straight down through the three floors and straight into the captain's quarters. At the front of the deck of the helm, there was a ladder that led all the way down to the main deck and she opted to take that. 

Back on the deck, she saw two women talking, paying her no mind. She saw that one of them was Rose but did not recognize the other. Theo said only four people were staying behind and Ava deduced that the woman was Miss Yurwa, who she hadn’t met yet. She did not want to be rude and ignore them but they did not seem to register her presence. She had already seen the deck and there was not much to it, so she pushed forward and tried to find an entrance to the lower deck of the ship and after some searching, she found two entrances. The main staircase seemed to only go down one deck to the mess room floor and when she tried opening the other doors on that floor, they were all locked. 

After that unsuccessful mission, she found another entrance below at the far right of the deck near Tuni’s infirmary. She took the ladder down and was pleased to find an open deck layout on the floor below. She assumed that these might be used for the crew when they were overflowing and there wasn’t enough space in the cabins but now, with a smaller crew the floor looked like it was used as a sort of lounge and haven from the sun outside. She continued to explore the inside of the ship, making her way from room to room, ladder to ladder. For hours she got lost in observing every detail of the ship, mesmerized by the intricate craftsmanship and the skill that it took to make this ship. 

Once she finally emerged back to the deck, it was significantly hotter and brighter outside. The sun showed Ava that the time was a little bit past noon and she wondered what time the pirates would return. How long did treasure hunting take and how accurate were those X marks the spot maps? She was smart, maybe if they had taken her along they would have found the treasure by now. Looking around, she felt stumped. She had no clue what to do and did not want to bother anyone. She had taken up too much of Tuni’s time this morning and Miss Yurwa and Rose were more intimidating than she would feel comfortable approaching so she made her way back to her room. This time when she got into her room, she didn’t object to the nap her body screamed at her for. She took off her obnoxiously difficult boots and laid in bed. She needed to make a list of things she needed the next time they were on land. Boots and ink and probably a list longer than what she could afford. She fell asleep thinking about the future, what she needed, and the journey ahead. 

\--------------------

“You know,” Theo said panting as she took a rest and set her hands on her knees, “when other pirates bury their treasure it would be nice if they didn’t have to hide it so good.” 

“Well. Hide it so well,” Xyra answered, head down looking at a map. 

“I’m a fucking pirate Xyrabellis and your captain at that. Correct my grammar again and I’ll demote you to swabbing the deck,” Theo threatened, an empty threat. It was hot and the sun was beating down at them and they had been at this for hours. 

Xyra ignored her and began moving around the clearing. Trees and thick brush surrounded them and the map she was given showed this as being one of the spots that could contain the buried treasure. They had begun searching in the early morning and it was three hours past into the aftermorning. She had her crew of 35 running around the island digging and searching for anything that could mean riches for them. So far they had found a sack of semi-rare jewels, some gold, and artifacts worth a lot in some places but it was not what they had come here for. The fabled Delraid’s treasure chest. She had been searching for it for lengths ever since Delraid was killed in battle and his crew disbursed. She followed whatever trails she could and they always ran dry. Finally, half of a length ago she had begun to seek out a lead that she believed would bring her to Delraid’s first mate. The man who made the maps himself. 

When she had arrived there, he had already sold the same information to another pirate. Captain Espbar of the Howler. She paid double and agreed to give him something from her plunder before he gave up the information. Once he did, Xyra sank her dagger into his heart and took the payment back. Normally, that wasn’t how the crew of the Scorned Woman behaved but there was a bad history between Xyra and Delraid’s first mate. Theo didn’t lose any sleep over it though, it kept him from selling the same information to someone else and kept him quiet about selling it to her. 

Theo’s advantage was that she knew Espbar’s itinerary. Things did not usually stay a secret in the pirate world and she knew that Espbar had quite a bit of traveling and recruiting before he could set course towards the treasure. Theo did not, she assumed that if she went more or less straight towards the treasure she would be able to beat Espbar there and leave weeks before Espbar even arrived at the island. However, her plan eroded when Espbar found out that she had the same maps as he did, things did not usually stay a secret in the pirate world after all. He was only three suns behind them last Theo had heard and Espbar had a way of finding the best currents and winds to sail with. Every minute they were there was a minute Espbar was closer to ambushing them on the island. 

Xyra stood in front of a patch of green sprouting up from the sand below them and pointed, “Seems to be here. Start digging and I’ll go check on the others.” 

“Yeah, leave me to do the digging,” Theo complained and grabbed her shovel. She was the captain and oftentimes composed and resolute but only Xyra got this side of her, bratty and childish. She knew her comment would just be ignored by Xyra, too focused on her maps and progress of the crew to put up with complaining. So, Theo just dug and kept digging until the friction from wood was burning her hand and she had angry red blisters. She was about to stop when she felt her shovel hit something hard. 

“Holy shit,” she stood there, shunned, “It’s fucking real.” 

She immediately dropped to her knees and started digging frantically with her hands, her blisters protested to grainy sand rubbing against them. Her hands began to feel the cool touch of metal mixed with the textured surface of a wooden chest and her heart began to race faster. Her first treasure hunt had been at the age of 6 and the feeling of finding what you were looking for never went away. Her hands were raw and the thought of having to dig anymore with her hands or the shovel made her queasy, she had to go get help and let everyone know she found it.

“Xyra!” she leaped out of the hole she had dug and stumbled forward. After regaining her balance she ran forward and into the brush. Leaping over branches and tangled weeds she had finally made it onto the beach.

“Xyra! I found it! It’s here! It’s fucking here!” Theo exclaimed, jumping up and down, waving her arms. 

Suddenly, she felt the wind leave her as a figure crashed into her from behind and wrapped their arms around her waist, picking her up, “I fucking told you it was going to be here! We’re rich! Delraid’s whole life’s treasure!” 

It was Morgana and Theo laughed swatting at her arms as she was being spun around, “You let me down now, fucking giant.” 

Morgana disobeyed and instead made her way to where she had seen Theo appear from, “No, I’ll help you lift the chest. My tiny weak friend.”

Theo laughed and kept moving in Morgana’s tight grip, “I’m not weak. Short does not equal weak. No, no, no, you're going the wrong way, Morgana. You’ve passed it let me down.”

This time, Morgana did what she was asked and let Theo down. Theo enjoyed the ride over here without having to walk, though she wouldn’t admit it. Her legs felt slightly better after that short rest and she walked back over to her shovel and the hole. She let Morgana hop inside and begin to dig out the handles of the chest and by the time that was done, Xyra and a few others had gathered around. 

“Shit,” Xyra peeked in, “It’s massive, Theo. How much is in there?” 

Theo shrugged and crossed her arms in front of her chest, “No one knows. Could be three gold or three hundred thousand gold. But, I wager enough to buy each of us a nice estate in Tassey.”  
The women that were gathered all began to clamor in celebration and Morgana peeked her head out of the hole, “Won’t have any of this gold for ourselves if Espbar gets it so less talking and more helping. Oceane, Iona, Pearl, Xyra, help me out with lifting it out. I need two of you at each handle.”

Theo watched as they began trying to figure out a way to lift the chest out. Compared to the others, Theo was as good as a child of two lengths, “Xyra, you’re in charge of the chest. I’ll meet you all back on board, I’ll go round the others and start preparing to leave. Oi,” she exclaimed to all the women in the area, “tonight we break open the chest with a feast!”

She waved her crew off as they cheered for the promise of a feast and walked back towards the beach. It took her an hour before she rounded up all the girls in the different dig spots and instructed them to take their finds back to the ship. By the time she got back to her rowboat, only 4 women remained on the beach.

“Morgana and Xyra are rowing the chest in one boat. It was really heavy. We’re the last one here. We were waiting for you since they had to go.” One of the girls, Oceane explained.

Theo nodded and climbed into the boat, “One of you is going to have to row for me. My palms are not too fond of me right now.” Theo held up her hands and showed her blisters and another two girls lifted their hands and showed theirs too, “Make sure to get those cleaned out and dressed by Tuni when we get back, okay?” 

The girls nodded and Theo turned to Oceane and the girl next to her, Iona. Iona turned her hands over and shrugged, “I’m good to row. I did not shovel..” 

“Me neither. I can row us back,” Oceane offered. 

Theo nodded at them and smiled, “Thank you, ladies. Let’s get going now. We’ve got a feast to prepare for.”  
\----------------

Ava awoke to the clamor of people outside. They were back. She shot up in her bed and opened her window. As she peered at the people outside, she saw a festivity occurring. Women were laughing and cheering and she saw sacks overflowing with treasures and a giant wooden chest laid out on the deck. Some women were littered around the deck as others were still climbing out of their rowboats. She watched as Tuni opened the door to the infirmary and began bringing people in. Someone limped in and another person that looked pale and sweaty was carried in. Ava hoped they were okay but it didn’t seem like anything too serious and Tuni seemed good at what she did. 

She wanted, more than anything, to head down and be a part of the celebration but she felt awkward even thinking about it. She didn’t help find the treasure and she was just a new passenger on the boat, not one of them. She opted to stay inside and sit around her cabin until the crowd slowly dwindled and the sunset. When she peeked out of the window as the sun was setting she saw the crew begin to work and the boat begin to sail. She wondered when supper was and realized, yet again she had gone without eating. Hopefully, the next few suns at sea would allow her to eat three meals a sun and maybe even have seconds for every meal. A full belly felt good right now but she did not know even when dinner was being served.

It had been an hour since the boat began moving again when she heard a knock on the door. She answered the door barefoot and was surprised to see who was standing there. Theo, dressed in something different than Ava had seen her this morning. What she was wearing made her look like more of a captain. She had a heavy doublet coat on, with an elaborate waistcoat, some black pants that were fitted to her legs and thick boots that came up to her knees. Her hair was peeking out from under the sides of her captain’s hat. Her fingers were adorned with jeweled rings and her left ear sported a gold dangling earring. She looked regal, almost. 

“Oh. Hello, Captain,” Ava smiled. 

Theo was just staring at Ava. The outfit and the hair were new and she looked completely different from the girl that she had offered a room on the ship. The black silky set that she had sold Ava fit her perfectly and Theo damned whatever gods were out there for not making her taller. Her dark red hair contrasted the black from her shirt and Theo had not realized how curly Ava’s hair was when it was all tied up. She looked good, different than before. Theo had to shake herself out of her head and remember why she had come. Sips from the crew’s drinks had kept being offered to her in celebration of their find and the buzz was starting to catch up with her.  
“Hello Ava,” Theo returned with a warm smile, “I was wondering if you might join us for supper? Tuni has insisted I come to fetch you immediately.” As she spoke, Theo’s smile grew. Her cheeks were tinted a little red and her eyes were glossy, she had been celebrating no doubt. Her eyes were trained on Ava’s as she twisted one of her rings, “And who am I to reject one of her requests?”

“She is hard to say no to,” Ava agreed, “I’ll join you. Who am I to reject one of her requests, after all. I just need to put on my shoes.”

Theo nodded and watched as Ava stepped back into her room and began putting her boots on. She walked forward and leaned against the doorframe, “We’ll all be glad to have you. You weren’t around when we came back. Where did you get off to?” 

“Sitting around in my room. I didn’t want to interfere with pirate business and you all seemed to be having a moment of celebration, I didn’t want to ruin it.”

Theo’s smile disappeared and was replaced with a look of concern, “I’m sorry about this morning. About that comment having to do with pirate business. If that made you feel excluded I’m sorry-”

“No, don't worry about it. I wasn’t even thinking about that. Everyone here has been nothing but amazing including you,” Ava interrupted and Theo nodded in response.

Theo watched as Ava struggled with her boots and tilted her head, “Why don’t you just come barefoot?” 

Ava’s head shot up and her eyebrows raised, “Barefoot? I won’t get splinters?”

Theo laughed and shook her head, “No. Our floors are feet safe. Come on, the mess hall is just down the hall, it won’t be too far. Not worth the hassle of shoes.”

“Don’t have to say that again. Those boots have been the bane of my existence. Lovely the girl who gave them to me, but they barely fit” Ava mumbled as she and Theo both started walking toward the smell of food. 

Ava left her door unlocked and all of her belongings scattered around inside but she did not feel unsafe about it and suspected everything would be there and accounted for at her return. They walked in silence down the hall until Theo spoke up.

“I think your hair looks badass,” She said with a smile, “and your outfit looks better on you than it could have ever on me.” 

Ava knew the comment meant nothing but she felt her cheeks heat up with the compliment. She was glad that the hallway was dark and hard to make out details or Theo would have seen her blush. Not even any of the boys back home could make her blush. They came from far and wide and showered her with compliments, some genuine and others not so much. They meant nothing to her, didn’t interest her. Why did Theo’s comment catch her off guard then? Why did she react the way she did? Ava reasoned that it was a mixture of relief of looking clean and composed to others after a long time of feeling grimy and filthy and that Theo had no intentions with the compliment. It was genuine and that is why she blushed.

“Thank you,” she answered after a beat, “You look quite dressed up yourself, it’s nice.” 

“Oh, this? It’s nothing. Just an assortment of expensive items I’ve accrued over the lengths of traveling all around the world. Using my vast amounts of found treasure to afford only the best items to adorn my body,” Theo explained as she reached the stairs, her tone laden with dramatic flair. 

Ava laughed at Theo’s antics, “Not very humble, are you?”

“Humility is not within a pirate’s know-how, Ava Ableworth,” Theo shot back with a cheeky smile before she descended.

Ava was quick on Theo’s heels as she jumped off the last step she raised an eyebrow to Theo and challenged, “Typically, neither are words like accrued.”

“Very true. Shall we?” Theo offered her arm to Ava and she obliged.

Arm in arm, Theo and Ava walked into the mess hall and suddenly all the noise and chatter ceased. The tables were not set up the way they had been before, they formed a square all around the room and made it so that everyone could see everyone. The tables were arranged that way symbolically, to allow all members of the crew to equally to be the focus of the celebration of finding treasure. Everyone in the square was staring at Ava and Theo at the front of the room. Suddenly, Ava felt very aware of it may have looked to everyone else that she was walking in together with the captain, holding arms in the way she had seen her sisters do with their betrothed. She slowly slipped her arm away from Theo’s and stood next to her silently.  
A woman in the far right corner lifted her cup and yelled, “To our captain!”

The women all around the room raised their glasses and shouted back, To our captain! then took a drink. 

Theo laughed and reached forward and grabbed a cup off of a table and raised it back to them, “To you all!” 

The women around the room shouted To us all and took another drink. Theo took a drink with them then lifted the cup once more.

“To Ava!”

All of the women clamored back To Ava and finished off their drinks. 

With that, the crowd went back to eating, laughing, rejoicing and drinking. Refilling their drinks and loading up their plates. Ava was confused she had talked to only about four people on the ship so she doubted any of them knew her name. They probably had no idea who Theo was talking about. 

“Looks like someone has a friend,” Theo said and pointed over at Tuni. Tuni was waving her arms around and pointing to the empty seat next to her, “I’ll walk you over.”

Ava nodded and followed as Theo led them over to Tuni, “Why did they all toast back to my name? They don’t know who I am and I certainly didn’t help find treasure. Toasts are symbolic and should honor those who the occasion is about.”

“Astute observation. What you failed to consider is that they are all piss drunk right now and will toast back with whatever you call out. It’s my favorite pastime, really,” They arrived where Tuni was sitting and Ava sat down in the open chair. 

Theo greeted Tuni with a kiss on the head and a squeeze on the shoulder then dismissed herself. Ava watched her make her way around the room, interacting with and conversing with everyone who wanted a moment of her time. Ava pulled away from staring at Theo and turned to face a smiling Tuni and noticed an equally smiling Morgana sitting on the other side of Tuni.

“Hello, Ava! Oh, it’s so good to see you out and about and here at supper with us. I hope I didn’t bother you by asking you to come,” Tuni took Ava’s hand. 

Ava smiled and shook her head, “No Tuni, it’s alright. I was starving so thank you for calling me down. Hello Morgana. How was treasure hunting?”

Morgana grabbed her drink and took a hefty gulp and wiped her mouth before smiling once again, “Oh mate, the fucking best as always. There’s nothing quite like picking up that heavy chest and knowing whatever is inside is going to fucking change your life, you know?” 

Tuni grabbed a plate of meat that was circling the table and served Ava some meat as Ava laughed and shook her head, “No, I don’t but that sounds amazing. What’s inside the chest?”  
Morgana shrugged and passed Tuni the potato bowl and Tuni began to serve Ava some potatoes. 

“We get to go upstairs after the feast and open it under the moonlight. Then we split the spoils. You should stay out there with us tonight. The rooms are no fun alone but this will be. You might even get a turn in picking something if everyone is drunk enough to feel generous.” Morgana invited and Ava felt welcomed, a rare feeling as of late. 

“Yeah, okay. I think I will, thank you,” Ava looked down at her plate and marveled at how quickly Tuni worked. During the duration of a quick exchange of pleasantries and a short conversation, she had managed to stack Ava’s plate high with different foods. “Thank you too, Tuni. You’ve been so hospitable.”  
Tuni laughed and clapped her hands together, “Oh you're so polite, child. So endearing. Eat, eat,” she encouraged.

Ava did not need to be told twice she began eating the food in front of her. She wondered how old Rose was and how long she had been cooking because dear god it was marvelous. Soon enough she had cleared her plate and was reaching for the meat plate that was making its way around once again. Never would she have imagined that food from something she thought of as the meat plate would be this good. Morgana laughed and raised her drink to Ava, “You eat like a champion!” 

Ava laughed at that because what was that supposed to mean? She shook her head and wiped her mouth off with the back of her hand. She felt full and like she could probably not walk for at least an hour. She felt a burp bubbling in her stomach and before she knew it, she let out a loud belch. It was relieving but she was embarrassed, her mother would have had her hung for that. The whole area around her erupted in cheers and laughs and the woman next to her swatted her on the back. Right, a pirate ship. No manners. She loved it here, with the meat plate and the cheers for every burp they heard. Sign her up. Plus, treasure. She wondered what would happen if she forgot about The Twins and just stayed here.

The room went quiet again and this time, Xyra stood at the front of the room. The whole toast thing happened again and when Xyra toasted back to everyone she actually had a smile on her face. Something Ava had yet to see before then. As soon as everyone went back to their business, Xyra made her way to Theo and once again her face returned to a stern expression. Xyra whispered something into Theo’s ear and watched as her face morphed into one of concern.

Theo politely dismissed herself from the conversation she was in and rushed towards the door, Xyra hot on her trail. They left the room and no one seemed to pay it any mind. She shrugged and went back to her food, finishing off the last of what was on there. By the time she finished, her mouth was dry and she needed something to drink. She looked inside her cup and saw what she assumed was beer and around the table, there were different drinks, none of them looked to be water. 

She leaned over to Tuni and asked if there was any water just for Morgana to let out a loud and hearty laugh, “No, my skinny friend. Only beer and wine and rum for celebration. Have some!” 

She smiled and shook her head, “No thank you. I can’t” 

“Well, are you older than 13?” Morgana questioned and Ava nodded, “Then why can’t you have it?”

“Well-” She tried to find a reason why she couldn’t. Most people she knew began drinking once they were of age but she was never allowed to. Her sisters could but never Ava and she had convinced herself that it was because she did not like the taste, not because she never behaved long enough to get the special privileges her siblings did. While they ate cake and drank wine she was sent back to her room where she would then sneak out and play along the walls of her residence. “I suppose I can.”

Ava grabbed the cup in front of her and took a sip and she felt like throwing up all the food she had just eaten. This drink was probably beer, bitter and not good at all. She hated it and her face scrunched up in disgust. Tuni took the drink out of her hand, “Oh child. I’m so sorry. This ale is not the greatest to start with. Let’s get you something sweet.” 

She handed Ava her own cup and encouraged her to drink. Ava took a sip of this and then took another. It was sweet and fruity and unlike the other one tasted amazing, “I like this one. Wine?”  
Tuni nodded, “My favorite kind. Morgana bought a whole keg of it at Barian when we were there. All for me. Can you believe it? Obviously, I’ve shared the keg with the kitchen for tonight but isn’t that the sweetest of her.”

“Yeah. That is very sweet. Also very sweet of you for sharing,” Ava commented and smiled, “What was the thing about opening the treasure?”

“Oh. Sometimes when there is a big bounty to open and split we cook a big feast and then gather on the deck to break the lock. We should probably head on out there to get the best spot on the deck. These lawless women will do anything for a good spot, anything but leave their ale and rum early. Come on.” Tuni got up, “Morgana, sweets. Come on we are leaving. Gotta get a good spot! I saw a jewel I wanted first pick for and I want to make sure no one else has a good vantage point on it.” 

Ava and Morgana stood up and followed as Tuni led them out onto the deck. The way she moved was almost effortless like she was floating. Morgana was the opposite, loud and sure footsteps alerting everyone of her movements. Strong and soft, it was a fun combination to be in the middle of. Tuni floated around the deck until she settled on a spot. A long wooden crate with another woman she recognized on it. 

Tuni beckoned them over and introduced Ava to the strange woman, “Ava this is Cooker, Cooker that is Ava. She’s a new passenger on board! Got here from Barian yestersun.”

“Oi, it’s a pleasure, m’ lady,” Cooker nodded her hat towards her and Ava curtsied out of habit. Cooker chuckled at that and Ava kicked herself about it immediately after.  
“I’m sorry. Habit. It’s a pleasure as well,” Ava took a seat next to Cooker and Morgana next to her. Someone had come up to Tuni while they were talking and she whisked them away to the infirmary. 

“Your girl is in high demand, Mor,” Cooker commented and Morgana nodded before drinking, “Put some ointment on my hand earlier and it stopped hurtin’. She’s a damned miracle worker.” 

“What happened to it?” Ava asked, looking at the bandages that were wrapped around Cooker’s hands. There was a striking similarity between Cooker and a girl she was friends with as a child. It made her feel comfortable and welcome, Ava couldn’t stop staring at her. 

“Shoveling is hard work, lass. This is what all morning and aftermorning digging for treasure gets ya.”

“Oh. I’m sorry. Well, on the plus side all the digging paid off,” Ava pointed out. 

Cooker drank to that and Ava was beginning to wonder where she could get a cup of wine when she saw a person at the end of the deck holding a tray full of overflowing cups. She walked up to them and grabbed a cup and thanked them then walked over. It might have been dark but Ava swore that the person handing out drinks was a renouncer. Long hair and a beautiful dress were visible at first glance but looking closer and under the makeup, Ava suspected that the person wasn’t born a woman. 

She had never seen a renouncer in person before but she had heard all about them. Her father had them jailed or executed for crimes against the founders where she was from. So much so that they fled further down south where laws were laxer. Her father was celebrated as a hero for his work in the North. She learned about them in her history classes. Before the first classification and before the great war, men and women were not the only ones allowed to populate the world. Some people grew up and when they did, they did not feel in tune with the way they were raised. 

When Baethos was created a set of rules was written by the founders. A code to live by that would ensure the prosperity of Baethos and the repopulation of the world after the great war. No killing innocent people, no stealing from a neighbor, no engaging in any activity that will bring harm to the masses. Those were some of the rules listed but so were rules governing the way a person married or presented themselves. No longer were people allowed to be present or act in any way that conflicted with how they were registered in The Vaults at birth. Not only that but women and men could only marry one other, something that was never restricted before unification. In the beginning, people who broke all types of rules were called renouncers because by breaking the rule they were renouncing the Baethian code. It became a synonym for criminal or lowlife. 

Slowly and after a time, the term renouncer had evolved to only be used for those that looked or acted differently. For those who married someone of the same gender or those who identified differently from what The Vault said. Criminals who broke the law became referred to as criminals but renouncer had morphed into something much worse. Ava, of course, didn’t know that it was an insult or even a bad word. So she brought it up when she got back to the crate.

Cup in hand she looked over at Morgana then Cooker and cleared her throat, “This crew is only women, yes?” 

“Aye,” Morgana nodded, “Why do you ask?” Ava nodded her head over to where she had gotten her drink and Morgana raised an eyebrow, “And what about it?”

“I thought that meant you only accepted women on the ship,” Ava said flatly, she didn’t see why Morgana did not understand her confusion.

“We do,” Morgana clarified, once again.

“But there is a renouncer here.”

It seemed as if that was the exact comment Morgana had been waiting for and her usual smiling demeanor shifted.

“Listen, lass, you fancy type always come on here with those kinds of notions. Most everyone that comes through here and is from a rich family has subjected poor Iona to be the subject of this conversation. We don’t go by the rules here. We are pirates and those rules are stupid anyhow. Don’t use that word again around here or I won’t be so friendly about it next time.”  
Ava nodded, taken aback by how sour things had turned so quickly. She did not understand though. She was taught all of her life that renouncers have no thought for humanity and the longevity of the Baethin society. That they were selfish and cared not for what the founders wanted. Morgana though was defending them vehemently. Ava had suspected, like most of her upbringing, that her education was compromised by politics and falsities and she wanted to know more. Why didn’t they use that term? 

Cooker could sense the confusion in Ava’s head. Her withdrawn demeanor gave it away and Cooker nudged her, “You alright there?”

Ava nodded and then looked at Morgana, “Why? Like, why can’t I say it?”

Morgan tilted her head and furrowed her brows, “No one ever asks why. They just do it. You ask too many questions,” Morgana shrugged, “I don't know what to tell ya. It’s rude. Don’t say it.” 

Cooker shook her head, “No. That’s not how it works. You doing that is the same as them telling her it’s okay to say it just ‘cause they said so. You gotta teach her.”  
“You teach her. ‘M drunk,” Morganna drank from her cup again. 

Cooker sighed and sat silently thinking for a few beats before starting, “There are layers to why you can’t say it but we have to start somewhere, I guess. Basically, a long time ago a bunch of shitty men came up with shitty rules. They decided what was right and wrong based on nothing but their own moral compasses. How is that correct? Why are we killing people, exiling them, ostracizing them because some person 40 classifications ago decided they were uncomfortable with what they didn’t understand.”

“Oh,” Ava felt bad, everything that Cooker had said made sense, “So what do we call them?”

“Girls. Women. Lasses. Ladies.” Cooker answered, “It’s important to respect each other. All it takes to be a woman is to feel like a woman. Iona is a woman and she is a valuable member of this crew. Respect is the only way to maintain peace.”

“Smart, Cooker. Where’d you even learn all that?” Morgana asked.

“A book,” Cooker said.

“You can read?” Morgana snorted and Cooker reached over and slapped her arm. 

“Shut up. Anyway, Ava, we don’t use renouncer because it’s a fuck you to those who tell us to use it. We don’t need to tear others down to prosper, look at our riches,” Cooker philosophized, “I should write my own book? That was good. Whatever. Do you understand, Ava?”

“Think so. It’s normal and old men were mean and shitty and now we are all mean and shitty because they tricked us into being. But if we don’t do what they tell us to do then we avoid being mean and shitty and instead learn to live amongst our differences. Iona is a girl because she feels like one. We aren’t here to police her,” Ava finished, out of breath. 

“And the student becometh the teacher,” Morgana teased and this time Cooker got up and tackled Morgana off of the box. They roughhoused behind the crates as Tuni walked back. As soon as she saw the two tumbling around she ran over.

“Get your hands off her, Cooker! You hurt her, I hurt you,” Tuni scolded.

Cooker laughed and got up then took up her spot on the crate again, “There is no way I could ever as much as make your woman flinch but it’s cute that you think she’s fragile.” 

Ava watched as Morgana stood up and sat next to Tuni, wrapping a strong arm around Tuni’s shoulders. Ava blinked and watched the two interact and it all clicked. The aggressiveness behind the comment earlier, Tuni always talking about what Morgana bought her, her woman. Looking at them now, Ava saw them in a whole new light. Her heart was warm looking at the way Morgana looked at Tuni. It was cute. They were cute.

It was wild, the number of new things she had been exposed to in a matter of suns. There was a couple made up of two girls sitting right next to her. Her father would have a brain bleed if he were on this ship, he was a man steadfast in his beliefs. He was so revered by his political counterparts they all justified his actions as part of the greater good. She saw more clearly than ever that people in power impose their will on others and convince them it’s for their own good. It felt like rebellion, simply understanding that people all around her were rejecting what was expected of them. She had done nothing of the sort but the company she was currently keeping were enough of rebels to make her feel empowered by it. After all, she was always taught who you are around reflects one's character. 

After the conversation with Morgana and Cooker, nothing else seemed to put a hamper or a serious note to the night. For what felt like hours they talked and laughed and drank. As Ava’s cup kept getting refilled, she felt drunker and drunker. It wasn’t something she had ever felt before but she was even more talkative than usual and she laughed so hard that she thought she was going to have an accident every five minutes. She heard Cooker tell stories about her old job at an inn before she boarded and Morgana kept poking fun at everything she said.  
She drank cup after cup until she felt dizzy. She thought it was best to stop, she had seen what happened to her mother after she drank too much wine. Her head was fuzzy and everything was amusing and she reasoned that she was drunk enough to quit for the night. Music was playing all around her and she felt herself tapping her foot to an unknown beat. Finally, Theo emerged from her captain's quarters with Xyra close behind. She approached the festivities and stood behind the chest. 

“First off! I would like to thank you all for the hard work you did on the island. The bounty would not have been as big without all of your help,” She started, “Now, Oceane is going to pick the lock and while she does that I want to prepare you all for tonight.” 

Oceane pulled a small pouch from her pocket and knelt in front of the chest and began attempting to pick the lock. 

Theo continued, “As you may well know, Espbar could be anywhere right now. At the island, chasing after us, or halfway across the world. Espbar has always been a problem but now the only difference is now we’ve got the treasure he is after. Not to dampen your spirits but we must be ready for a fight at any time. Now that the news is out of the way, lets fucking celebrate!”  
Everyone cheered and Ava looked around confused. She was worried. They had to be ready for a fight at all times? What kind of fight? Would she be expected to do anything? It was sure death if she was put to fight and she felt her nerves worsen. She barely registered the lock being popped and the lid on the chest opened. When it did open, the deck was silent. Even Theo looked shocked, mouth slightly agape. The whole chest was brimming with gold coins and some rare gems and diamonds peeking out in between the circles of yellow. There was enough there to buy half of a fleet. Ava sat forward in her seat, she would stop at nothing to get this treasure if she was the captain of a boat. The threat of Espbar became more solid, more worrying after she saw the bounty. 

“Let’s get started, shall we. You all drew numbers before supper started! Let’s start with the first five.” Theo shouted at the crowd and Ava began to tune out. 

She was more preoccupied with the threat Theo had explained earlier. Everyone seemed fine but unlike everyone, she was not trained in the pirate art of not caring. She doubted anyone would expect her to fight, or at least she hoped that was the case. There was nothing to worry about, she told herself. Unless the other boat was bigger, had more people, had better-skilled fighters, had bigger cannons, or any combination of the aforementioned. She was pulled out of her reprieve as Cooker nudged her, “Hey, you’re up. You can pick anything from the pile that isn’t gold.” 

Ava got up and looked around, everyone seemed to be holding something and it seemed that they allowed her to take her pick after everyone had. They didn’t have to since she contributed nothing to the expedition. She approached the chest and everything surrounding it and reached in the sack full of jewelry for a small ring. It was silver all-around with a blood-red gem in the middle. She slipped it onto her finger and it fit. She turned around and held up her pick and everyone cheered as she sat back down. 

The small prize made the threat of battle somewhat fade to the back of Ava’s mind as she admired the delicate craftwork on the ring. She showed it off to Tuni and Tuni showed her the jewel she had picked. 

“Xyra will count the gold and split it between all of you. She’ll find out how much we owe you! Make sure to come by to the treasury before we get to The Twins to claim your portion! Enjoy your spoils, pirates. You did good!” Theo announced and held up her cup as a toast to them.  
Everyone, including Ava, lifted a cup to that. Theo waved the crew off and went into her quarters, Xyra turned and went up to the helm. Ava started to feel drowsy and the wine had started to leave her system. She yawned and looked over at Morgana and Tuni who were in their own world comparing their selections. Cooker looked just as tired as Ava felt. She stood up and smiled at the group who had kept her excellent company all night and did an exaggerated curtsy. 

“I am going to go to bed. Get some rest before the threat of pirate activity comes and gets you,” Ava teased as she headed off in the direction of her room. When she finally got into her room she was so thankful she had left the room barefoot or she would have fallen asleep with them on. The second she made it into bed, she laid down and passed out. 


	5. Raiders

Theo was walking the deck when she heard the call from the crow's nest, “Pirates incoming!”

She frantically looked across the horizon and saw a small shadow shaped like a ship. She ran as fast as she could up to the helm and took the spyglass from one the crew’s hand and looked out to where the boat was “Aye. That’s the Howler alright. Xyra, call everyone to their positions. Get Morgana to lead those who can’t fight downstairs.”

Xyra nodded and disbursed, leaving Theo yelling commands from the helm to the crew around her. Theo’s mind was racing to come up with a strategy before they arrived. It was another 30 minutes before the first signs of battle would even come but they needed to have a plan. She knew that Espbar had just traded up to the Howler not even half a length ago and when he traded it, the seller took out all the cannons from below because he didn’t have enough gold for it. Xyra walked back up the stairs and looked at Theo.

“Cap, the cannons,” Xyra said, a little out of breath from running up the stairs.

“I know. It’s our best chance. He has none and his crew is bigger so we need the advantage. I will alert the master gunner, we need the cannons ready to fire as soon as the ship is within reach. Bring Oceane to the helm. She’s the only one here who can handle a bow and we are going to need one,” Theo said and looked at Xyra, “You know the drill. If I don’t make it out of this, the ship is yours.” 

With that Theo raced down the ladder and ran down to where the guns were kept and alerted the master gunner of the plan. When the shot was right, shoot. Theo even encouraged the gunners to not waste more than two cannonballs on it but to try and aim below the waterline. If the cannon hit the boat below the waterline while it was rocking above the surface, once the ship submerged again it would rapidly begin to flood. Theo needed to take the boat down before it could get to them. If Espbar boarded the ship with his full crew then it would mean sure defeat for the women. 

Once she felt confident that the master gunner knew how to proceed she rushed back to the deck. Looking out at the horizon once again she saw the shadow appear closer and time was running out. As she was making her way back up the ladder to the helm, Morgana rushed past her with her hand in Tuni’s and made her way to the inside of the ship. Morgana told Tuni to wait at the stairs as she rushed up them, down the hallway and began to bang on Ava’s door.  
“Oi! It’s Morgana! I need to get you to safety! A ship was spotted in the distance!”

The door opened a few seconds later and a sleepy-looking Ava was on the other side of the door, “M’ awake. What’s the matter?” 

“No time,” Morgana took Ava’s hand and began pulling her down the hall. After a moment they had made it back down the stairs. Now, Ava was more awake and the adrenaline and panic were starting to kick in. She saw Tuni, her hair was frazzled as if she had been woken up from sleep like Ava. Morgana began moving again and Ava followed. They made their way through the inside of the ship, collecting people as they went. Rose and Miss Yurwa were there with them and a few other girls too. They finally arrived at what seemed to be one of the last rooms on one of the lowest floors. They walked into the room and Tuni kissed Morgana goodbye. They exchanged rushed whispers and then Morgana was gone. Tuni closed the door and bolted it shut with a wooden plank from the inside. 

“We should be safe here. Morgana will let us know when the coast is clear,” Tuni assured the women in the room and Ava nodded at her and found a place to sit. It seemed like forever before she began to hear noise and she wondered what was going on up top. 

\--------------

“They’re in range, gunners! Fire the cannons!” Theo bellowed and she felt the boom of the cannons before she heard it. 

The Howler was close now, almost in range to grapple it. Espbar was probably expecting to be the first to grapple but Theo wouldn’t let him. The power of catching him by surprise with all the tricks in the book is how she planned on winning this one. Theo made her way across the helm and to Oceane, “Ready your bow, archer! When you’ve got a shot, take it!” 

Oceane nodded and waited just a few more moments until the masts of The Howler were close enough to her. She tipped her fat soaked arrow into a torch next to her and released the fire arrow. The wind caught it and blew it away and Oceane cursed it. On her second try, she knocked the arrow back and released. It went flying and then hit the sail of the other ship. After a few seconds, the cloth began to ignite and the sail caught flame. Oceane cheered and shouted, “We’ve got her lit, Cap!”

Theo whooped and ran over to her, “Keep it going! Light her up anywhere you can. Let’s sink this ship before we even have to shed blood!” 

Oceane nodded and lit another arrow. Theo left her alone and climbed down off the helm she needed to be by the grapplers. Running over to the women lined up against the edge of the deck she looked at The Howler. Not yet, they couldn’t grapple just then. Theo waited anxiously. She saw a crew of about 50 on the deck. Holes began to liter the side of the boat while flames began engulfing different areas of it. They had damaged it for good, there was no way Espbar would be able to stop the fire from spreading. She saw men scrambling to stop the damage and she knew they were distracted enough to not combat the grapples that would drag their ship closer to doom. 

“Grapplers! Bring her in!” Theo yelled and turned to the rest of her crew, “No one boards that ship! It’s a goner and whoever goes on it, ain’t coming back. That means that we’re going to have a lot of frantic pirates boarding our boat trying to leave the flames! Get ready and bring hell down on them! We take no prisoners tonight, ladies!” 

The women around her drew their weapons, some yielded axes, others fought with swords. Morgana came up next to Theo with her Morningstar in hand and nodded towards her Captain, “Ready?” 

“As always,” Theo drew her sword.

“How many of ‘em?” Morgana looked at the ship in front of her. 

“Looked to be about 40 or 50 on the whole ship. I reckon not more than 30 will get on,” Theo pointed over to Oceane. Now close enough to get accurate shots at people, she was knocking back arrows and sending them flying through chest after chest. 

“Thank fuck we’ve got an archer or we’d be outnumbered,” Morgana chuckled and spotted the first pirate straggling over the edge. Morgana took three giant leaps forward, lifted her Morningstar in the air and brought it down over the man’s head. He went limp and crashed into the deck below, dead. Theo watched and shook her head, Morgana’s strength never ceased to catch her by surprise. 

Theo twisted her sword in her hand and pushed down the fear she felt in her stomach and pain shooting through her blisters. She was beginning to see people pour over the edge of her boat and she took a deep breath and charged forward. She wasn’t met with much resistance at first. Most of the first men over were panicked and were more interested in escaping the fire than fighting. She almost felt bad cutting them down but it was either them or her crew. By the fourth person she began to encounter a fight and it was getting harder. She had to work a little bit harder and suddenly she found herself engaged in a sword battle that was sending her backward across the deck. She saw the man in front of her miss a step and without hesitation, she plunged her sword into his unguarded chest. She kicked him off her sword and he fell face forward onto the deck, blood seeping out from under him. She twisted her sword in her hand getting ready for the next person. All around her she saw women fighting and men falling to the ground. She took a quick survey of the deck and saw none of her women down, they could handle themselves. 

Morgana had picked up an ax and was wildly swinging the Morningstar in one hand and chopping down with the ax in the other. If everyone’s life wasn’t in danger she would stay back and admire the sight but her life was in danger and so she had to tear her eyes away. She saw Espbar climb over the deck and saw one of her crew run to attack. Espbar was known for his skills in combat and he would cut down half her women without batting an eye. He was big and had the necessary fighting experience. 

“Stop!” She yelled, “No one touches him! He’s mine.” 

Espbar chuckled and swung his sword around in his hands, “Oh don’t fuss. They’ll get plenty of time with me after I’ve killed their captain. Such a pretty ship. Should thank you for destroying mine, now I’ve got an excuse to take yours. And you even went out of your way to find the treasure for me, how nice.” 

“Shut up and fight, coward,” She taunted and held her sword up. 

He laughed and inched closer, “Shame I’m going to have to kill you. I liked you, really. Refreshing face to see around the Islands. But it’ll be one hell of a story, the way I sliced the lady pirate’s throat,” Espbar raised his sword and swung at Theo with all his strength. 

Theo blocked it and continued to defend his blows. She maneuvered around the deck and avoided his attacks as best she could. She wasn’t as strong or as tall as him but she was quick and she could outlast him. It was a dance he unknowingly followed and one she had done many times. She felt more confident with each step and he began to look more tired. She began to attack now, every three steps back she pushed forward one. 

She saw the perfect opportunity when she was just about backed up against her captain's quarters. Her foot reached to the side and kicked a box in front of her just as Espbar was taking a step. He stumbled forward and before he could catch himself she kicked his sword out of his hand. He stood up and lunged towards her but she sidestepped him while slashing down, cutting his stomach. She stepped behind him as he bent down to touch his wound. Pulling him backward and bringing her sword to his throat she smirked, “Such a shame I’m going to have to kill you. But it’ll be one hell of a story, the way I sliced the great Espbar’s throat.”

With a sickening sound, she drew the sword across his neck and kicked him forward as he choked on the blood seeping out. Some of the men dropped their weapons and ran back to their burning ship, to try and calculate a way out of the situation alive. Others knew they had nowhere else to run and kept fighting. Theo did her part and chased down any pirate that tried to make his way into the ship’s inside. 

After only ten minutes, it seemed there were no more men left fighting and they removed the grapples from The Howler. As they sailed further away from it, the fire that engulfed it grew bigger. Theo looked around the deck and saw the women looking at her, expecting her to give out directions. She found a crate that would hold her and she stood up, “You are all the best fighters I could have asked for! Those who are not injured, tend those who are! Bring them to the infirmary for Tuni to check out when she gets here. Boatswain and Carpenter, you assign duties of what needs to be cleaned. Morgana and Xyra, with me. We’ll dump the bodies.” 

Theo hopped off of the crate and patted some of the crew on the back as she passed them. Morgana and Xyra approached her and together they began moving the bloody bodies to the edge of the deck. One by one, they threw the bodies over. 

“That never gets easier,” Xyra said through a pinched expression, examining the blood over her hands and clothes. 

Morgana nodded slightly but chose to just wipe the blood off on her pants, “Going to go get Tuni. There are some wounded.” 

Morgana walked off and Theo raised an eyebrow and turned towards Xyra, “Know what’s up with her? She usually glows after some old fashioned killing.” 

Xyra nodded and began cleaning her blade, “One of the guys that was killed used to be a mate on one of her other ships. Must’ve been hard for her.” 

“Yeah. I’ll talk to her later when she comes back up. Thanks, Xyra for like, just doing good around here I guess,” Theo acknowledged and Xyra nodded in response, patting Theo’s back before walking away. 

Morgana emerged from the deck with Tuni next to her arm around her shoulders. Tuni looked to be holding onto Morgana’s side tightly, worried about her lover that just returned from a fight. Ava, whose hair was still messed up from sleep, walked out behind the couple and looked around. Her nose scrunched up and Theo could tell what the face was for, the smell of blood and death was settled over the deck and Theo remembered the first time she had smelled it. The pungent metallic smell that a person could feel pinching at the back of their throat. 

Theo walked over to Ava, “Hey. You’re looking a little pale there, friend. You alright?”

Ava nodded and pushed her short hair back, “Yeah. Yeah, just something about being locked in a room not knowing if imminent death awaited us is kinda… shaking.” 

Theo nodded, “The sight of blood can’t be helping. How about I get you some tea and then I can walk you back to your room?”

Ava nodded and looked down at Theo, “Thank you. For real, like, thank you a lot for everything you’ve done so far.” 

Theo waved her off and shook her head, “Not to worry. The tea Rose has in her cabinets will calm your nerves. I’m thinking about a cup myself, post-combat jitters.” 

Theo and Ava walked down to the kitchen and Theo began to gather the materials needed. A kettle, some water, and a tin of tea. Slowly and quietly she began to brew it and Ava watched as she methodically went through the process. She could see Theo’s hands trembling a bit as she mixed in the sugar and brought over the cups. They sat together in relative silence, sipping their tea. Ava still noticed how tense Theo was beside her, hands still slightly shaking.

“You alright, Captain?” Ava asked.

Theo flashed her a smile, “Aye, everything is alright. Why do you ask?” 

Ava motioned to the shaking teacup and Theo put it down, “It’s nothing to be embarrassed about. I don’t know what I would have done if I had to be anywhere near the danger. Probably pissed myself.” Ava wouldn’t have said that last part so easily if she hadn’t been so sleepy and out of it but it caused Theo to laugh which in turn made her do the same, “I just asked because I noticed you ask everyone else but no one asks you.”

Theo put her hands in her lap and looked at Ava, a bit shocked at how quickly she seemed to be picking things up. She didn’t know Ava very well but she seemed to be one of the most adaptable people she ever met. Xyra was talking a lot about how those with last names are spoiled and don’t understand their way of life but Ava seemed to be accommodating just fine. Granted, she was the exception as most everyone who boarded the ship usually took way longer to get adjusted. 

“After a big fight like that my body doesn’t really know how to handle the adrenaline and the nerves so it just spazzes out for a while. It’ll calm down though,” Theo explained and left her teacup in front of her, not wanting to pick it up again. 

“It must be hard to fight like that.”

“Oh, no. I don’t fight like this. The nerves don’t usually kick in until everyone is dead. I kind of like to give my brain no time to think about the fight before I jump into it. Hasn’t got me killed yet so it seems to be working.”

“Well I’m glad it hasn’t gotten you killed,” Ava smiled.

“That is very kind of you. I am flattered that you do not want me dead as I can say that most people do,” Theo joked and stood up, leaving her teacup on the table, “Here, I’ll walk you back to your room.”

“Sure, that would be nice thank you,” Ava stood up and brought her cup with her. As they walked, Ava felt a worry in her stomach. “Theo?”

“Hm?”

“They’re gone, right? Like the pirates and stuff?” 

Theo nodded and placed an arm gently over her shoulder and squeezed, “Yeah. They’re all gone, ship and all.” 

She let go of her shoulder and silently walked alongside Ava the rest of the way. When Ava got to her door, Theo tipped the captain's hat still on her head and walked away. Ava walked inside and locked her door, falling back into a more rested sleep than before with the threat of pirates gone. 

Theo walked back to the deck and observed the crew cleaning and repairing damages. Theo made her rounds around the deck and dismissed most of the crew. She informed all those she dismissed to be up early and they would take the first shift in sailing. All those that had to stay back and swab the deck would get time to sleep in the morning. She thanked them all individually and made her way back to her quarters, excited to relish in the feeling of being alone. 

As soon as she unlocked her quarters and shut the door behind her, she sank to the floor. Dried blood stained her clothes and her hands still shook from the nerves of the fight. Her hands were bloodied and raw but she didn’t want to get her wounds dressed by Tuni just yet. She felt fat hot tears begin to fall onto her cheeks and each breath became more ragged than the last. It was times like these that Theo felt her age, really felt small and inexperienced. She knew that every risk she took meant the risk of failure and the death of the crew was right around the corner. That pressure sometimes became too much to keep in. She let the sobs rack through her chest and after a while, she composed herself enough to take deep breaths. and managed to get up. Stripping her dirty clothes, she got into her bed and let her exhaustion from the long sun take her into a heavy sleep.


	6. Seasick

Theo woke up hours later, at the first light of dawn. She laid in bed with her eyes open and went over the events of the night before. She would have to check in with Miss Yurwa in the treasury to see what the pot was for everyone and collect her own piece. She would probably have to meet with her boatswain and carpenter to budget for repairs when they arrived at their first city. All she wanted to do was to roll back over and fall asleep but she had captain duties to attend to. The last thing she wanted to do was spend her morning sailing and concerning herself with maintenance matters. 

Duty called. 

She stood up from her bed and made her way over to her wardrobe, opening it and looking around. She threw on whatever looked the most comfortable and made her way out of her room with no shoes on and a classic white shirt with tight black pants. As soon as she was two steps out of her room she could see three people make a beeline towards her and she took a deep breath, preparing herself. 

When they all arrived they began to talk at once and Theo held her hand up and they stopped, “Walk with me. I need food.” 

When Theo turned and began walking towards the mess hall they all followed her, keeping up with her quickened pace. One of the girls, Eve, began speaking first, “We’ve got no issues with carpentry. We took them by surprise with the fire, they couldn’t stay on their ship long enough to cause any permanent damage to ours. We won’t have to budget anything from our find towards repairs.”

Theo nodded as she walked and shot Evana a smile, “That’s great news. Allocate whatever you think we would have spent if Espbar had come at us with more force and ask around to see what the girls want to see next. When we get to land you can purchase the materials for a project.” 

Evana nodded and her smile was beaming. She was the carpenter and building was her passion but most of what she had to do was repairs and maintenance of the ship rather than build. Every once in a while, when they got lucky like Theo let her embark on building a new room for the girls. She had already built new tables that were longer for the mess and a small library on the lower decks. The galleon was an Aelizian warship and was fitted for a crew of about 250. With a crew currently less than a sixth of that, there was a lot of open space for renovations and improvements. She quickly broke rank with the others following Theo and made her way down to her workspace to begin drawing out options for the girls. 

Theo looked at the woman to her right, a thin, tall, dark woman who was dubbed Navi, short for Navigator. She was one of the smartest and most capable people Theo knew, and one of the few that could read and follow maps so accurately. Navi was Theo’s sailing master and her life had been much less stressful since Navi agreed to join her crew. Xyra liked to pretend she was good with navigating the open oceans but she was no better than the rest of them. Navi cleared her throat, “We are ready to set sail as soon as you are. Most of the crew who is sailing the morning shift are awake and ready too.” 

“Thank you, Navi. Keep walking with me. I have concerns about the journey you need to brief me on before we leave but first, Pearl what’s the update?” Theo turned her face to Pearl as they began getting closer to the smell of frying eggs. 

“The whole deck is cleaned but I do have some cleanliness concerns in some of the rooms and the general lower decks need to be clean and organized. We don’t want a repeat of the last ship,” Pearl reminded and Theo shuddered. Their last ship’s lower decks had become near impossible to walk through from the pile-up of things they had stored under there.  
“Aye, do you have enough help for that?” Theo asked and Pearl shook her head no, “Right. Gather a crew of up to 8 and let them know that whoever helps you is off sailing duty for two suns. This sun and tomorrow’s.” 

Pearl saluted her captain, “Aye, I will do that. Thank you, Captain.”

Pearl turned the other way and set forth on her mission. Theo and Navi arrived in the mess room and Theo went to grab a plate for herself. Sitting down, she ran Navi through questions of the safest route and got answers for most of her questions. Once she had finished her breakfast and was properly satisfied with the answers to her concerns she got up and walked back to the helm, speaking with Navi the whole time. 

“Oi, have you seen Mor this morning?” Theo questioned as she began climbing the ladder.

“No. Was she supposed to be on the morning sail?” Navi answered as she climbed up after Theo.

Theo nodded and looked around the ship from her spot on the helm, “Aye, we need 20 pirates to set sail this morning. I let the others rest but Mor knew she had to be here. Something was up with her last night, I’ll go check on her in a bit.” 

“I can go get her. Maybe she’s just late, y’know she hates this part of the job,” Navi offered and Theo shook her head.

“No, she needs the rest. She most likely stayed up helping Tuni with the wounded anyway so she can skip out on sailing, 19 will have to do,” Theo knew Morgana hated sailing but she also knew Morgana never faulted on orders. The night before must have really affected her and Theo was going to visit her later. She should have last night but she doubted she would have been any comfort to Morgana. 

“20 was small enough, Cap. You’re killing me here,” Navi joked and unfurled her maps.

Theo laughed and brought her in and kissed her temple, “I’ve watched you sail this baby with six of us. We’ll be fine, we’ve got the greatest sail master right here.

Navi laughed and pushed Theo away, “Go be a captain.” 

Theo gave her the middle finger and walked over to her wheel. She placed her hands on it and winced slightly, forgetting the blisters and wounds from the sun before. They had begun to heal overnight, tender skin turning callous, but she hadn’t had them dressed or cleaned by Tuni. When she visited Morgana she would ask Tuni for help, she promised to herself.

Soon, all the women were in their positions and the sailing began. Navi shouting orders and the crew working in unison and before long Theo could feel the wind consistently beating against her face and could hear the waves crashing against the boat. She hoped it would be smooth sailing from here to their destination in The Twins. It was a 10 sun journey and that was more than she was comfortable with. They had been at sea for way longer before but she had a smaller crew than usual and she couldn’t afford rough seas or another raid. No matter how worried she was, the excitement had still been bubbling in her stomach. Suns at sea were Theo’s favorites. Being captain meant a little less when she was at sea. There was no paperwork or port bureaucracies to deal with, no planning the next adventure or worrying about her crew on land. She had sailed all her life and was an expert at handling a ship but she wasn’t needed as much on those days.

Once she deemed it necessary, she would allow Navi to take over navigation and guide the rest of the crew and Theo wouldn’t be bothered unless it was an emergency. On sailing suns, she would deal with what she called her pirate business in the morning. Sailing, taking meetings, settling crew conflict and whatever else was needed of her. But the aftermorning was her vacation. Like most of her crew on sailing suns, she worked for half a sun and had the other half off. They usually switched halfway through the aftermorning. She did this to increase morale. When she was just a crew member on a ship she hated the incessantly long hours where she seemed to be doing nothing productive. When she became captain, she allowed her crew to have breaks and in return, they tended to stay much longer. 

Theo had the aftemornings off and when she would fuck off and do whatever she wanted, Xyra would take over for her. This morning, first on her pirate business to-do list was to check in with the injured and touch base with Morgana. After an hour of standing on the helm, she decided it was time to get on with the rest of her business. She motioned Navi over to the wheel and informed her on where she would be if needed. Theo climbed down from the helm to the deck and walked into the infirmary. 

“Good morning, Tuni,” Theo smiled as she walked in and saw Tuni in her regular spot.

“Oh good morning, love. You aren’t wearing a hat? What a welcome surprise,” Tuni smiled and stood up from her chair. 

“Will you quit making a big deal out of it every time,” Theo reached up and pushed her hair back, “Just came by to check on the girls here. Everything went okay overnight?” 

“Aye. Quite a few cuts and bruises. Nothing too bad for the most part. We’ve got three girls that I’ve kept overnight and have instructed them to rest. Gretta got hit by an arrow in the arm, Brim got slashed in the stomach, and Hop got into a nasty fistfight. They’ve all been sedated to help with the pain. M’ afraid you’ll have to come back when they've woken to speak to them.” Tuni informed her.  
“Thanks for taking good care of the crew. You’re truly an angel. Hey, do you know where Morgana is? I wanted to have a chat with her,” Theo asked looking around the room. 

“In my room. She’s in a foul mood, I haven’t even let her help me this morning because she was being snippy last night. When men complain about women I don’t understand, not usually. I love women and there are hardly any flaws but dear God some of you on here do not communicate. Can you please go talk to her?” Tuni asked and took a key off from around her neck and handed it to Theo. 

“You locked her in there?!” Theo laughed and Tuni nodded with a furrowed brow. 

“She is acting like a child, she will be treated like one,” Tuni huffed and turned away and made her way down to where the patients were laying. 

Theo shook her head, smiling slightly. Morgana must have been indignantly sulking in the room. Theo approached and unlocked the door. When she made it into the room she saw Morgana beginning to rise up from her spot on the bed, “Cap, I’m sorry I didn’t go this morning. I stayed up late-”

Theo held up a hand, silencing Morgana and walked over to the dresser in front of the bed and sat on top, “Don’t apologize. You needed rest. You fought hard last night.” Morgana nodded thanks and Theo continued, “Xyra tells me one of those men last night was an old mate.”

Morgana nodded and rubbed her neck, “Aye, spent the first four lengths of my life on the sea with him and some others. We were small kids back then but we went from boat to boat seeking odd jobs and I trusted him with my life. Good kid. Always wiser than the rest of us.” 

“I’m sorry, Mor,” Theo knew Morgana wasn’t one for comfort in the form of words or anything physical so she just sat in silence with her. Letting Morgana take the lead in the conversation if there was anything left to say. 

Morgana just nodded and stayed silent for a little while, “It was me, though. Like, how do I live with that?” 

“It was you?” Theo tilted her head and studied Morgana’s face. The grief on it made Theo’s heart hurt and her stomach sink. Morgana killed people, it's what she did and she did it well. Rarely was there a time where Morgana would feel guilt, much less grief. But, She had killed her friend. Theo did not know what to say, “Oh.”

“Aye,” Morgana wiped her face with her hands and took a shaky breath. The threat of tears made it difficult to blink, “It was an accident, I didn’t see his face until after. Even then, it’s them or me, I know that.”  
“Doesn’t make it any easier,” Theo said softly and sat on the bed next to Morgana, “I’m truly sorry for your loss, Mor. I wish I could help.” 

Morgana shook her head and smiled sadly, “There’s nothing to do. Just pay for my sins when it’s time, I suppose.” 

“Aye,” Theo patted Morgana’s leg, “I’m giving you a few suns off. Take as long or as little as you need. I need you to recover, emotionally. I can’t have my best pirate penting things up, alright?” 

Morgana nodded and Theo stood up. She knew this was the perfect time to end the conversation.

If she told Morgana to get better, Morgan would definitely not listen. She was stubborn about needing help or time or space. Theo phrased it like something that Morgana needed to do for her, that way she would be sure Morgana recovered and took time to herself. Theo couldn’t imagine what that was like. Xyra was her closest friend and ally since the moment she boarded her first boat. Even if they had only been together for a fraction of that time, killing her would be devastating. 

Theo suspected it would be a few suns until Morgana was going to show her face amongst the ship. She walked out and closed the door behind her. Walking over to Tuni, she handed back the key, “Don’t lock her in there again.”

Tuni stuck out her tongue at Theo and began to take the key but she gasped and grabbed Theo’s wrists, “How long have you had your hands like this?! This must be hurting you so much, Theo. Sit down, I’m going to dress them.”

Theo sat down and extended her wrists, her demeanor was one of a scolded teenager. Tuni scoured her cabinet and came back with supplies and began cleaning up her hands. Theo winced in pain as Tuni poured alcohol to sterilize the area. 

“What have I told you about this? Am I going to have to track you down and make you strip every time there is a fight? This is the fourth time you’ve not told me when you’re hurt,” Tuni looked genuinely distressed about this and Theo felt guilty.

“I’m sorry. I swear I was going to get it done before I left. I was just so busy last night and then I fell right asleep after everything was clean. I’ll come by the next time I’m hurt,” Theo promised and watched as Tuni wrapped her hands up. Once she was finished she relinquished the death grip she had around Theo’s wrists and let her go. Theo leaped from her chair, offered a quick thank you and left to go back outside. 

She walked past the deck and saw Xyra waiting for her outside her quarters with a scowl. She rolled her eyes in anticipation for whatever Xyra had to say about why she was frowning.  
As she approached her quarters she yelled up to the helm, “Navi! I’ll be in my room if you need! Be up there soon!”

Xyra saw Theo coming towards her and slipped inside the office, waiting. She had been looking for her all morning, in the kitchens, on the lower decks, her room, the helm and anywhere else she thought Theo frequented. Once Theo walked in Xyra took a step towards her, “I’ve been looking for you.”

“Clearly not hard enough. Navi knew where I was,” Theo pushed past Xyra and went to sit in her desk, “Could do without the fucking scowl every morning, y’know. We did just find treasure and defeat quite a big target. We are the ship who took down Espbar, legends I tell you.”

“While you were asleep last night, I went through the letters we got at the port at Barian. The ones you refused to let me go through because god knows why?” Xyra commented and before she could continue, Theo interrupted.

“We had more important things to do. Those letters have waited for ages they could wait a while longer. We had business to attend to. Anyway, carry on. I’m sensing something important was in these letters?”

Xyra nodded and held one up in the air, “This one. Remember Nolend’s Pub? The one with the brothel downstairs.” 

Theo nodded.

“Well, we got a letter from one of the girls in the brothel. It’s been weeks since this letter though. We’ve been bouncing around so much, no one could find us long enough to deliver it,” Xyra put the letter down in front of Theo, even though she knew Theo wouldn’t read it. 

“The joy of pirate mail,” Theo commented, trying to be funny.

“This is fucking serious, Theo. Apparently, Nolend has been back to his old antics. We’ve already set a course for The Twins, if we change our restocking city to a sun earlier in Jarth we can attend to this matter. It’s not far off from Tassey and it’s big enough to give the girls enough to do there in terms of shopping and restocking the ship.”

Theo sat in the chair contemplating for a few minutes then she nodded slowly, “Aye. That’s a good idea. Will you inform Ava of the change? I’m going to inform Navi,” She was caught by a glare from Xyra and Theo held her hands up, “I’ll talk to Ava, you tell Navi.”

“Very well. I’ll see you in the aftermorning then,” Xyra turned around and walked out and Theo flipped her off as she walked.  
Xyra had been having an attitude with Theo for a few suns now, more attitude than what she usually made Theo put up with. Brooding was Xyra’s trademark but it rarely was this bad and Theo never really had to deal with that side of her. Theo also did not understand Xyra’s dislike towards Ava but Xyra also had a track record with illogically despising certain people. Theo stood up from her chair and made her way to Ava’s room. 

Greeting some of the girls on the way up to the cabins made the trip longer than anticipated but Theo’s morning was always brighter after interacting with her crew. They always had a funny story or new accomplishment to tell and when Theo had the time, she was all ears. Every time she was finished with one person’s story, another would be waiting for her a few feet away with theirs. She listened as many of them recounted their heroic fights from the night before and she enthusiastically responded with some of her own tales. Finally, she made it to Ava’s room and knocked.

Ava opened the door and Theo gasped a little at how she looked. Her face was pale and sickly and she did not look well, “Woah, love. Are you alright there?” 

“Um, yeah. I’m fine. Just, uh, a little nauseous,” Ava said, weakly.

“I was just passing by to tell you that we’ve changed course. We are no longer going to Tassey. We are arriving in Jarth instead. We have some business there. I hope that’s alright with you. If you were making plans for Tassey then we can arrange to pay for your transport there once we dock,” Theo explained and Ava looked like she had a hard time processing it.

After a minute, Ava spoke up, “Yeah, no that’s fine. Wasn’t even aware we were going to Tassey. Honestly, I did this whole pirate ship thing wrong. Asked no questions and just let myself be taken out to the middle of nowhere,” she tried to joke but she felt sicker with every word. 

“Ava? You okay? Looking a little green there,” Theo furrowed her eyebrows, concerned for her passenger. She had seen this plenty and she needed to get Ava down to Tuni quickly. Ava took a few steps backward holding her stomach and nodded. She sat back on the bed and waved Theo off. 

“I’m okay. Just, uh, probably what I ate last night,” Ava rationed. 

“Afraid not, lass. Let me get you to Tunis. You've got a case of seasickness. She’s got a good warm drink that’ll settle your stomach and bucket to puke in, c’mon,” Theo walked into the room and helped Ava up, “You comfortable with me picking you up?”

Ava shook her head and smiled as best she could, “No thank you, I can walk there.”

Theo nodded and led the way out, closing the door behind them. It only took about ten steps down the hall before Ava paused and held her hand over her mouth. The ship had rocked to one side heavily and even Theo felt her stomach flip at that one. 

“Oh Jehiall,” She muttered to herself trying to keep it together. She didn’t want to ask for help but it felt like every step threatened to end in her throwing up everywhere. She had been woken up to the boat rocking side to side as it sailed and she had immediately begun to feel queasy. Every second she was awake it kept getting worse and worse and now that she had stood and tried talking, her stomach was warning her it was about to explode. Theo looked at Ava and Ava nodded at her, giving her the go-ahead to pick her up. Theo just stared at Ava and Ava sighed, “Theo?” 

“Oh! Oh! Right, yes. I apologize,” Theo kicked herself for her stupidity and she walked to Ava and scooped her up. Ava was taller than Theo but weighed a lot less. She carefully made it all the way down the stairs and to the infirmary. Ava was clammy and Theo could see how pale she was up close, all the color was drained from her lips and cheeks. She felt sorry for her and knew it would be a rough couple of suns before Ava adjusted to the rocking of the sea. Even then, some people never adjust and have to leave the ship. Theo hoped that was not the case, Ava was a nice addition around the ship so far. 

With her hands full she couldn’t open the door so she kicked it lightly with her foot, “Little help here, please!” Theo called from outside the door and Tuni opened moments later.

“Ava, you poor thing. Get her to that first bed right there,” Tuni pointed and then picked up an empty bucket and brought it over to the bed. She brought over a blanket and a pillow for her and made sure Ava had a comfortable place before Theo set her down. 

“You’ve been feeling sick for how long, love?” Tuni asked.

“Since this morning. When I woke up,” Ava answered and she reached for the bucket, holding it close to her.

“Any pain in the stomach? Cramping? Sweating or fever?” Ava shook her head and Tuni nodded, “Right, sounds like seasickness. You’re going to throw up a lot just let it happen. It’s going to be miserable and you won’t feel alive for a few suns at the least. I’ll bring you light foods and soups but you’ll still have a hard time keeping stuff down. We’ll keep you here for a bit alright? Just until you’re able to keep things down again.”

“Fuck, Tuni,” Theo said, somewhat amused yet somewhat pained by Ava’s expression of misery and horror, “Just scare her half to death, won’t you.”

Ava took that moment to lean forward and empty her stomach into the bucket. Tuni walked over and rubbed her back soothingly. Theo felt bad leaving, but it was time for her to head back to the helm and wrap up her morning. She said her goodbyes and left on a promise to return that aftermorning. Crossing the deck, she yelled an encouraging message to those working and then climbed the ladder. 

“Anything worth noting, Navi?” Theo asked, picking up the spyglass and looking out into the horizon. 

“No, clear skies and somewhat smooth seas. Wind’s on our side too. Might even make up a whole two suns and get there early,” Navi informed. 

“Perfect. Got anything special planned for the journey? We’ve got the luxury of the aftermorning all to ourselves for so long,” Theo took a deep breath of the ocean air and spread her arms out dramatically, “Freedom.”

“You’re an idiot,” Navi laughed, “And, I’m trying to find a nice lass to keep warm at night. You know these long trips kill me and without anyone to pull at the bars I’m going to have to go local.”

“Fuck. Please no, Navi,” Theo groaned, “I swear I never have any problems on my ship until you decide to fraternize with the crew. We call men depraved but you are absolutely insatiable.” Theo scoffed, “go local.” 

“Careful using all these big words. People might start to think you’re smart and we can’t have that lie going around,” Navi taunted and Theo hit her side with the spyglass playfully, “Any plans for you?”

“Nope. Open ocean means open schedule, I go where the party takes me,” Theo wiggled her eyebrows, “Speaking of. Got anything fun I can buy off of you? Cooker is dry and I don’t know if you heard but I recently came into quite a bit of money.” 

“Aye. Pass by my room later, I might have something for you,” Navi chuckled then stepped away from the wheel, “She’s all yours, Cap.” 

Theo took control of the wheel and this time, her hands didn’t sting when she placed them on the wood. She steadied the wheel and kept her eyes focused out on the horizon, getting lost in her head. She must’ve stood there for a while because Xyra was suddenly in front of her. She blinked back into reality and let Xyra take the wheel. She briefed her a bit on Morgana before climbing back down the ladder and headed back to Tuni’s. 

“You’ll be glad to know I am back and am at your service,” Theo said, walking in. 

Tuni looked up at Theo and smiled, “How did I get so lucky. Three times in one morning? The captain is spoiling me.” 

“You know I love to visit my favorite lady. Say, if something ever happens to you and your lady friend there, you know where I live. I’m always around to be the next in line,” Theo flirted and gave her a wink.

“I know you are joking but Morgana doesn’t share our sense of humor. If you keep that up you’ll find yourself in a duel over a woman you don’t love,” Tuni warned, a playful tone in her voice.

“Oh, but I do love you,” Theo persisted and Tuni laughed.

“Go get me some lunch then and can you bring Ava here some soup. I’m going to try and get her to take a few sips,” Tuni asked and Ava groaned at the thought of food. Her stomach lurched again and she visited the bucket, yet again. Theo winced watching her, she hated throwing up. 

“Aye. I’ll be right back,” Theo said and went to fulfill her task. She had a bit of a hard time trying to balance her food, Tuni’s and a bowl of hot stew for Ava but she made it back in one piece. Once again, she kicked the door to alert Tuni of her presence and set the food down on an empty table. Tuni thanked her and walked the bowl over to Ava. 

“Here,” Tuni placed it on the table next to her, “Small spoonfuls are the key. Try your best to keep it down okay?”

Ava nodded and Theo felt awful for her. Her cheeks were pale and her eyes had dark circles around them now. Theo thought the sea was cruel for that, making people go through misery before being able to enjoy the freedom she offered. A worthy price to pay, though. Theo sat down in a chair with her food and began to eat, “You think they’ll be outta here soon?” 

“Hop won’t. She’s probably got as many suns left in here as Ava. Once Gretta and Brim wake up, I’ll be sending them on their way,” Tuni answered and she took her plate.

“I’ll make sure to bring ‘em by something special from my storage room,” Theo said and Tuni shook her head smiling.

“They’re pirates, you don’t need to reward them for doing a pirate job. I’m sure the gold they’re going to get is payment enough, love. Keep giving all your things away and you won’t have much left,” Tuni observed. 

Theo laughed and rolled her eyes then began to eat. It was good, a little too hot to be eating when it was aftermorning and boiling outside but she was starving and indoors, so it would have to do. She looked over at Ava on the bed only a few feet away and watched as she took tiny sips of her stew. Theo had only been around Ava for a couple of suns but she was silent and that seemed to be uncharacteristic. Theo scooted her chair closer to the bed, “How are you feeling?”

“You use fancy words but can’t seem to deduce how stupid that question was?” Ava grunted out, head rested back against the wall. She closed her eyes and held her hand over her stomach.

“This one has got quite the mouth. Guessing that’s the reason you ran away then? Misplaced words got you into some trouble?” Theo questioned.

“Not quite,” Ava opened her eyes and looked at Theo, “Sorry for the rudeness. Not doing quite well, as you can see.”

Theo shrugged it off, “Ah, no problem. I like you. I think you’re quite funny, even when you look like death.” 

“I’ll give you that one,” Ava put the bowl on the table next to her and laid back, “Tuni. I don’t think I can eat anymore.”

“You ate plenty, try and rest now. Helps the time go by faster,” Tuni advised and Ava was weak and fatigued and too tired to ignore the advice. 

She had never felt this way before. The room was spinning and she felt like unscrewing her head from her body and throwing it off the ship. The last time she had gotten sick enough to throw up was lengths ago and she was quickly reminded of how unpleasant that was. Her stomach lurched and her head spun as she laid down but she ignored the protests of her body and tried to fall asleep. She heard Tuni and Theo talking quietly as she attempted to rest and eventually the sounds of them talking drifted away and she began to dream.

She was at the edge of a cliff looking out as waves crashed into the ocean. She saw her chambermaid there crying and sobbing at the ledge right next to her. Ava tried to get her to calm down, to tell her everything was going to be okay but the sobs just continued. Then, she heard his voice. Her father was not far off, calling her name. Fear began to rise in her stomach, she couldn’t be found. She didn’t want to be found. She saw his flag begin to peek over the bend and heard the galloping of hooves. She heard him get closer and closer and she retreated closer and closer to the edge until she couldn’t back away any further. Her chambermaid turned to her and her expression turned into something wicked. 

“Goodbye, hope you can fly little dove,” she pushed Ava off the cliff.

She felt the falling and all of a sudden woke up with her heart racing. She looked around and took a deep breath after seeing where she was. Her chest felt like it was going to explode and she sat up, taking deep calming breaths. Tuni was by someone’s bed redressing their wounds and chatting with them. Her room door was open and she could see Morgana in there with Theo and Cooker. There was no light coming in from the window on the far side of the room and she assumed she had slept through the aftermorning. Her nausea was at a low but she would have been foolish to assume the worst had passed. 

Tuni passed by with a bucket of old bandages and looked her up and down, “Ava, you’re looking better. How are we feeling?” 

“Better, actually,” Ava smiled at her. 

“I’m glad I didn’t get the snappy end of the Ava stick that time,” Tuni teased and Ava shrugged.

“Can’t go around making the doctor mad.” 

Tuni clicked her tongue and winked at her, then made her way over to her room and peeked inside, “All you miscreants out of my room. All of my patients are awake and you’re making a ruckus. Go spend your night drinking elsewhere.” 

Tuni shooed them out of her room then the infirmary, much to Ava’s amusement. They scrambled out like chickens and Tuni returned to her, “Are you up for a short walk around the deck? Some fresh air will do you good.” 

Ava didn’t want to move or get up but she figured that the longer she was awake the worse she’d feel, so it was now or never and she really needed the air. She nodded and slowly slipped out of bed. Tuni helped her, grabbing her arm and walking outside with her. By the fifth step, she had regained the use of her legs and got used to her body weight on them after a long time in the bed. She pulled away from Tuni politely and began to walk on her own. When they emerged outside, the cool night wind was blowing on her face and she felt instantly refreshed.  
She walked alongside Tuni in silence before looking over at her, “You and Morgana? How long have you two been together?” 

Tuni’s smile widened and she clasped her hands in front of her, “Two lengths now? I’ve known her for four but could not stand her for a while in the beginning.”

Ava laughed, “It’s always those you least expect, my sister fell in love with the man she hated most growing up.”

“Aye, I hated it here too. The ocean, at first. Took me a long time to adjust but once I did, I fell in love,” Tuni remembered as they walked towards the edge of the deck.

“How long have you been here? Or well, out at sea?”

“Four lengths. My first ship was one of Theo’s. I was part of her first crew. I suppose I was at the right place at the right time and she picked me to head the infirmary”

“That sounds like quite the story,” Ava said, in hopes that Tuni would elaborate. She was interested in how everyone got here, Theo included. Tuni seemed young but Theo seemed younger. Younger than most everyone around here and it was a wonder how she already had her own ship and command now let alone four lengths prior. 

“Oh, it is. Theo was the first mate on this one ship, yeah? One of the only girls on there, I think. It was just her and Xyra and Cooker. She was really good at what she did and the captain made her first mate. He died of something or other, probably dysentery if we’re being realistic here. But, anyway, the ship was set to be left in her name. Problem was, Theo was only a 13 lengths old girl. There had been plenty of pirate captains in the past that had been 13, it wasn’t the age that was a problem for them, it was that she wasn’t a man. So when the captain died, they threw her off the boat at the next port and didn’t let her back on,” Tuni explained and Ava frowned at that. 

Tuni continued, “My mother was a whore at a brothel under this pub and I was raised there as a medic to help the girls after a hard night. I was up above in the bar, having my dinner and waiting for someone to need my help when Theo walked in. Even then she was fierce and commanded a room. Anyway, she asked for a crew and I volunteered to do the thing I did best. I just wanted out, told no one I left either. Morgana was there too. Theo’s plan was to steal the ship back and make the men pay. The rest is history.” 

“That ship. Was it this one?” Ava asked.

Tuni shook her head, “No, that one is long gone. We’ve traded and bought plenty of new ones over the lengths. This one though, she’s my favorite so far. Theo got her about 300 suns ago and we’re all doing our part to make it home.”

“It is a beautiful ship,” Ava observed and suddenly her head betrayed her and immediately she felt dizzy. She hopped up a bit over the edge of the deck and emptied her stew from earlier into the ocean below. 

Tuni ran a hand over her back soothingly until Ava was done, “Let’s get you back inside.” 

\-----------------------

Ava’s suns passed in a haze. Small bites of meals she couldn’t finish. Periodic walks for fresh air. Her head in a bucket. Theo checking on her. Tuni checking on her. She awoke on the fifth sun of travel feeling better and far more used to the rocking of the ship. She held breakfast and lunch down but it wasn’t until right before sunset when Tuni finally gave her the okay to leave. She didn’t think she would ever have her freedom back but the moment had come. She was a free woman, free from the shackles of her damned stomach. 

She walked outside and stood in the setting sun for just a minute, taking in its light. She had no idea where to go, she didn’t want to go to her room and she didn’t want to be below the deck either. She supposed she could just sit around the deck for a while. Ava moseyed around the deck, keeping a lookout for a place that no one seemed to need or notice. By the captain’s quarters, she found a wooden box that seemed out of the way of the working pirates. She brought her legs up on the box with her and smiled at the feeling. Once again, her pants stole the show and allowed her to cross her legs without hassle. 

For the first time, she wasn’t bothered by the waves. The soft rocking of the boat was something she had come to expect and rock with. There was a shorter girl in the crow’s nest, eyes fixed on the horizon and Ava craned her neck up and watched her for a while. She was unmoving and her arm never seemed to let the spyglass in her hands drop an inch. The girl looked to be about eight and Ava was surprised to have missed her before. Her attention was pulled away when someone passed nearby. She watched them go by and pull some rope she assumed was important. It all looked effortless, how did one even learn to sail? The winds were not predictable and neither were the seas, how did they know when to do what? 

She saw someone approach the captain's quarters and knocked. Ava had seen the woman around the ship on her walks and her first time in the mess hall and was mesmerized by how she walked and carried herself. She wore a long blue silk dress that rippled in the wind. She was waiting outside the door with a pouch in her hand when she turned to Ava and extended her free hand, “I’m Navi. You must be the new passenger.”

Ava smiled and shook her hand, “Ava. Nice to meet you.”

“Heard you’ve been sick for a while, huh? Looks like you’re back to normal then if you're out and about”

“Yes. Just got out a little bit ago. Feeling like a whole new person,” Ava admitted. 

With that, the door popped open and Navi nodded a goodbye, “Glad to see you up and alive then, Ava. See you around.” Navi walked into the room and shut the door, smiling at Theo on the other side, “Well good night, Captain. How are you doing this fine sun?”

Theo chuckled and shrugged, “Eternally damned to boredom. Got anything exciting for me? Slept with anyone that might have stirred the pot. Is there a conflict I need to solve?” 

“No, unfortunately, I have not had the opportunity present itself but hope is still out,” Navi conceded “but if you’re bored, I’ve brought something for you.” 

“A mysterious murder to solve?” Theo raised her eyebrows.

“Not quite, something fun you requested some time ago,” Navi outstretched her hand that held a small felt pouch. 

Theo smiled and took it out of her hand, “Took you long enough. I asked you, like, five suns ago.”

“If I recall correctly you told me you’d stop by my place and I have been diligently waiting for you there, captain,” Navi contested and reached into Theo’s hands and opened the bag for her. A blue wiry grass sat inside the pouch and a knowing smile spread across Theo’s face. 

“You did not, Navi, you sweet bastard,” Theo brought her forward and kissed her head. In Theo’s hand was dragon’s breath. A rare drug that was only grown in Elox. It was available elsewhere but for outrageous prices. Cooker was usually the go-to person for these kinds of things aboard the Scorned Woman but Navi was known to find a gem every now and then. Theo occasionally partook whenever Cooker or Navi had anything. Dragon’s breath, however, she had not had in many lengths and she was excited about it. It was smoked in a tobacco pipe and inspired feelings of joy, laughter, creativity, and other attractive effects. 

“Enjoy, Theo. Do not tell Xyra you got this from me,” Navi warned.

Theo nodded and walked over to her desk pulling out her sack of coins, “How much?”

Navi raised her hand and waved off the offer of money, “No need for that. It’s a gift.” 

Theo pushed the drawer closed and slowly made her way over to Navi, “Surely, there is some way to repay you,” she said in a lowered voice. 

Theo began to unbutton the first few buttons of her shirt, Navi laughed and shoved Theo away from her, “Stuff it, ass. No need to be a tease, I’m doing you a favor.”

Theo laughed and backed away, “Your loss.”

Navi tilted her head and laughed, “You’re not serious, are you? I can never quite tell.” 

Truth was, Theo wasn’t serious at first. Just pulling Navi's leg for being so sure she would get one of the crew members to sleep with her. However, when Navi mentioned it, she considered the options on the table. Navi was not looking for anything serious, a subtle fling to scratch an itch. It would be the noble captain thing to do, to keep her from mingling with the crew for the rest of the trip. Plus, it had been more than a while since Theo had indulged and it hadn’t been the first time that she and Navi had… interacted. 

“I’m as serious as you want me to be,” Theo tested the waters. It was in Navi’s court now and Theo wouldn’t mind which way it went. Navi raised an eyebrow and walked back over to where she had pushed Theo. She reached up and put a hand on Theo’s chest and gently pushed her backward until she hit the desk. Theo’s hands went up to Navi’s waist and smirked up at her. 

“You’re sure?” Navi looked down at Theo and Theo nodded.

“‘Course, now. Let’s get this show on the road.” Theo said.

\------------------------

Ava had decided to make her way inside after she realized what was going on in Theo’s room. She was shocked, to be honest. Not that Theo was a - well, actually Ava did not know the proper term for a woman who liked women. But she was shocked that it was happening with a member of the crew. Was that not a conflict of interest? Then again affairs and sex with people you aren’t supposed to are just the way the world worked. If she had learned anything useful growing up, it was that. How much harm could lady pirate sex do?

She still did not want to return to her room, after being surrounded by a somewhat decorated infirmary filled with different people at all times she had gotten used to the bustle of the ship. She reckoned her room would feel too empty, she would feel too alone. Ava remembered something she had heard about a library from Tuni during her stay in the infirmary. Room by room she checked for a library until she finally found it. A cozy room with shelves half-filled with different color books and two big pillowed chairs in the middle of the room. Once she had found the room she went to collect her candle, lit it, then returned to the library. 

She picked a random book off of the shelf and began to read it, the dim candlelight proving enough to read. It seemed to be about the history of the first six classifications and she had made it through about 20 pages when someone appeared in the doorway. 

“Oh,” the person stopped in their tracks and Ava looked up, it was Theo. 

Ava tilted her head and took in Theo’s appearance. Her hair was a little mussed and her eyes were wide and unblinking. She looked like a dog caught doing something it shouldn’t be doing and it caused Ava to laugh a little bit, “Are you drunk?”

Theo shushed her and crept into the room, “Keep your voice down. No one can find me.”  
Theo shut the door slowly and made her way to the chair. Once she sat down she ran her fingertips into the fabric of the chair for a long time. Ava just watched her in wonder, what had she drank? She made no noise, afraid to startle Theo but all Ava wanted to do was laugh at her. A small noise escaped Ava and Theo’s head shot up.

“I’m sorry. You were saying?” Theo asked, now her eyes were blinking normally.  
“I was just asking if you’re drunk,” Ava repeated and Theo shook her head furiously. 

“No. No, I have done something far worse than drink. I have smoked a substance that would have me arrested by Eloxian authorities on orders of the great Lord Vaith, noble protector of the realm of Elox.” Theo said somewhat bitterly. 

Ava ignored the comment about the Lord and raised her eyebrows and leaned forward, “Dragon’s breath? I’ve never seen anyone on it before. How does it feel?” 

Theo giggled then covered her mouth. When her laughing fit subsided she removed her hands from her mouth and whispered, “Tingly and fun.”

After that, Theo stayed silent for a long time. Ava went back to her book, occasionally looking up to check on Theo. Theo switched from keeping her eyes open and closed, relaxing and taking in the surroundings. Occasionally, a small laugh or snort would emerge from Theo’s chair. 

Ava was on page 57 when Theo spoke up, “Hey, want to follow me somewhere cool?” 

Ava put down her book and nodded, “Sure. Will I die?”

“Er, no. But no promises, anything can end in death,” Theo pointed out and Ava gave her that. She stood up and Theo followed her lead. They were both standing in the room for a few moments in silence before Ava urged Theo on, “You’re leading the way. I’m not sure where we are going.”

“Right!” Theo started forward and opened the door. She hummed as they made their way through the ship. After a quick walk they ended up back inside of Theo’s quarters and Ava took stock of the room. The bed was messed up and she saw evidence of dirty clothes on the floor. Theo kept walking and approached a door on the far right of her room. She opened it to reveal a balcony on the other side and Ava gasped a little walking out onto it. The sea was in clear sight down below and the moon cast a beautiful light over the ocean. 

“Didn’t I promise it would be cool?” Theo asked as she stepped onto the balcony and took a seat on the floor. Ava followed suit and looked out onto the ocean, Theo was staring at Ava though.

“You’re already more coherent than before,” Ava noted.

“Aye, a little bit less whacked out,” Theo laughed, “A lot a bit more relaxed.”

She lay back against the wall of the balcony and looked out to the ocean. This time, Ava turned her head and stared at Theo closely. No wrinkle lines or signs of aging, so young. “How old are you?” Ava asked.

“Twenty-four,” Theo lied quickly.

“That’s a lie. You’re seventeen,” Ava quipped back just as quickly and Theo sat up affronted. 

“How in the world could you possibly know that? Are you a spy?” Theo narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

Ava laughed at the sudden paranoia and shook her head, “No. Tuni said you got command of your first ship four lengths ago and that you were thirteen then. Which puts you at about seventeen, am I wrong?”

Theo grumbled a bit and slumped back against the wall, “If you knew, why’d you ask me?” 

“To see if you’d lie,”

“And I did,”

“And you did,” Ava confirmed with a laugh and then Theo began to laugh with her. 

“I like you, Red,” Theo pointed at her.

“You’ve said that before. I’m beginning to think you like just about anyone,” Ava slumped back against the wall too and turned her head to look at Theo.

“I’m slow to anger, that much is true. However, I mean it. You’re odd, a closed book. Intriguing,” Theo philosophized, drawing out each sentence. 

Ava laughed at Theo, “Closed book? Coming from a charming mysterious woman pirate in charge of a mysterious woman pirate ship that helps people?”

Theo scoffed and held a hand over her heart, “I am not a closed book! On the contrary, I think I’m quite open, ask me anything I’m here to answer.”

Ava wasted no time, not questioning the opportunity, “How long have you been out on the sea?” 

“Since I was five so… I can’t do numbers right now, you can figure that one out.” 

Ava was thinking. She should use this time wisely, get as much useful information that she could out of the pirate captain but she felt a little predatory about that. Asking someone questions when they weren’t really in a capacity to answer like why did you run away from home and start a life as a pirate? Theo was high and Ava did not want to violate her trust. Ava was a passenger that had been aboard the ship for a total of six suns and she was already sitting on the balcony of the Captain. Theo’s hospitality had been unparalleled and Ava’s moral compass wasn’t broken so she refrained from any serious questions. 

She was interested in what she heard earlier in the night. She had been thinking a lot about what Morgana and Cooker had said the night of the attack and she wanted to know more. She wanted to humanize the people she had heard so many negative things about. 

“Did you have sex with Navi earlier?” Ava asked quickly, a blush covered her cheeks involuntarily from bringing up the subject.

Theo shuffled away from Ava and narrowed her eyes, “Are you a witch? Do you have visions or something?” 

Ava guffawed and stared at Theo, “What? That doesn’t exist. I was just sitting close by and saw Navi walk in and then, well, y’know heard the noises.”

This time, Theo turned red and stammered a bit before finding her word, “I had no idea. I am so sorry that was- Oh, I’m sorry you had to hear that.”

Ava reached over and put a hand on Theo’s thigh, “I walked away as soon as it started. Don’t worry.”

Theo looked down at Ava’s hand then back at her. Ava’s hand was soft and warm and Theo got a good look at her under the moonlight. Freckles dusted her nose and tops of her cheeks and her curly red hair was falling into her face. Ava pulled her hand away once Theo seemed to stop freaking out and asked another question, “Are you and her, like, together? The way Morgana and Tuni are?”

Theo shook her head, “No. We’ve only done that once or twice before. I don’t make it a habit to sleep with my crew, it becomes too messy. Navi and I go way back and I know she’s not in it for anything.” 

Theo left out of the fact that while she and Navi go way back, so does Navi and Xyra. 

Ava nodded and kept pressing, “But, you are right? A-” Ava couldn’t find the right word. Now that she knew renouncer was not a good description she was stumped as to how to ask it. 

“A nox? Yes, I am, very much so actually.” Theo offered, seeing Ava struggle with the word. Morgana had told her about the exchange a few suns ago and was more than happy to help Ava understand these concepts. 

“Nox? What’s that?” Ava looked confused.

“Noxvila. It means a woman who is a lover of women in Aelizan. Over the lengths, it’s been shortened to nox. But yes, I do like women,” Theo explained gently. 

Ava nodded and stayed quiet for a while. She had a million other questions now but she did not want to bother Theo. She had interrogated her enough for one night and something told her this was not the last conversation she would have with Theo. She sat in silence with Theo for a while, both of them lost in thought. 

After a while, Ava decided on a safe enough question, “Is everyone on the ship a nox?” 

Theo shook her head, “That would be an absolute disaster, I think. No. Some girls like men, others like girls, others like both, others like none and to some I really think they couldn’t care less.”

“Unfortunate for the girls that like men,” Ava mused and that sent Theo into a fit of laughter. 

“That is my philosophy too but why do you say that?” 

“Well, pirates are at sea a lot. This is an only woman pirate ship. So the people who only like men can’t have sex when they are at sea, which is often. So it’s unfortunate for those who enjoy sex and only do it with men,” Ava rationalized and Theo nodded along with her logic. 

“Aye,” Theo simply responded with a laugh then she stood up, “I’m going to go inside and finish off the rest of my special stuff, would you care to join?”

Ava stood up after Theo and thought about the offer. She had only really drunk for the first time a few suns ago. She knew she was on a pirate ship and the rules didn’t matter but she had to set boundaries for herself at some point. She shook her head, “No thank you. I think I’m going to head to bed. Um, do you usually partake in things like this?” 

Theo walked inside and over to her desk drawer, “Not as often as I should if I’m honest. Helps me wind down but there isn’t really a lot of times I can do it and when I do there is always a risk that comes along with it. Anything can happen at any moment and I have to be prepared so on the off chance I do partake in some extra fun it has to be something I could probably fight or man the wheel after taking it.”

Ava walked inside, “That makes sense. I’m glad you found a time to relax.”

Ava looked around the room and realized she forgot her candle in the library. It would be very hard to find her way back to her room in the dark, especially after not being back there in suns. She looked around the room and counted over five candles, surely Theo would let her take one, “I left my candle in the library. Can I borrow yours? I’ll bring it back tomorrow.”

Theo jumped into action and grabbed a lit candle and walked it over to Ava, “Need me to walk you back?” 

Ava shook her head and took the candle, “No but thank you for the offer. Enjoy the rest of your illegal Eloxian contraband.”

Theo laughed and watched her approach the door. Before Ava left, Theo called her attention again and when she turned back, Theo smiled at her, “Come by tomorrow night. Maybe I can ask you some questions.” 

Ava mirrored Theo’s smile and nodded then walked out. She felt good, relaxed. As she walked back to her room she couldn’t wipe the smile off her face. She had made yet another friend and it was the captain of a pirate ship. She wished her dad could see her then. Soon enough she was in her own bed, surrounded by the barren walls and the moonlight danced through the window as she fell asleep.


	7. Witness

Ava did go back the following night. And the night after that. And the one after that on the last night of their voyage. It was a ritual now. A ritual she got accustomed to quickly, a little too quickly. She would spend her mornings with Tuni or Cooker messing around on the deck, even helping them with the odd job here or there. Then her aftermornings were spent holed up in the library reading the same book she had started previously. It was quite boring, Ava thought, but it was useful information. Unbiased too.

When nighttime came, Theo always came knocking on the library door and they went to their balcony where they began to exchange questions and answers. The second night they were together Theo asked Ava questions about herself. She had just turned 16, she had four sisters and three brothers and she was the youngest, she was the only of the girls that wasn’t a twin. Her favorite thing to do back home was climb and help in the garden and she had left home over 40 suns before she boarded the ship. The third night they escaped to Theo’s balcony they exchanged questions about favorite foods and colors, best memories of a pet they had and their childhood best friends. Ava told her about her chambermaid who always helped her make fun of her mother together and they drank some of Theo’s fine wine. The last night was not as animated and lengthy as the other nights. It had been a long sun for Theo and Ava had seen her working throughout it around different parts of the ship. They only spent about an hour together in the library that night when Ava urged Theo to get some rest.

Theo reluctantly had stood up and gone to bed with the promise of showing her around all of the best shops in the morning. Ava was instructed to be ready to go bright and early and she listened to those instructions. She had her shoes on and her money pouch ready to go and tied around her waist, perhaps a bit too early. The sun had not yet fully risen before she was dressed but Theo had the same idea of “bright and early” as she had. There was a knock on her door not long after she had gotten dressed.  
She opened the door to a very relieved looking Theo, “Oh thank fuck. Thought maybe you weren’t ready as early as me and I didn’t realize it until I knocked but of course it would have been too late anyway. Glad you’re awake.” 

Ava laughed and bowed dramatically, “Your wish is my command, Captain. Bright and early.” 

“Right,” Theo laughed and offered her arm, “Shall we? We must be quick.”

“Why?” Ava took Theo’s arm and they set off.

“We’re sneaking off the boat,” Theo explained and they quickly made their way down the hallway and the stairs. 

“Because the captain isn’t allowed off the ship?” 

“Because the captain isn’t ever given the chance to get off the ship alone unless we dock early. Pirates are sleepers, no one wants to wake up at the crack of dawn to go into a city they’ve been to before. I, on the other hand, love my alone time in the city,” Theo told Ava as they made it off the ship.

“You aren’t having alone time though,” Ava commented as she looked around the port. The sun was just beginning to shine over the water and onto the docks but there was barely a soul out yet. 

“Aye, I’m not alone but I also don’t have a band of 20 pirates with me,” Theo countered and Ava shrugged, understanding the logic. One quiet-ish passenger versus 20 rowdy pirates, Ava knew which she’d pick. 

They began to make their way down the docks and Ava took everything in. It was beautiful, not necessarily the richest place or the fanciest but it was so different than what she’d seen in Elox. The building’s here looked to be primarily made of this bright red clay. Not many people were out but those she did see wore beautifully patterned silk clothing. As they made it out of the docks and more into what looked to be a central place of shopping, Ava realized there was nothing open yet.

“Theo,” she nudged her companion, “nothing’s open yet.”

Theo nodded “Aye, we are not going to the shops yet. Just wait.”

Ava knew by now not to try. Theo was smart enough to know that Ava wanted to know where they were going and if she was withholding information, no line of questioning would get her to answer. Ava knew because she was the same way. She had a tight lip when it came to her own secrets, it’s what let her get away with so much back home. It was everyone else’s damned loose lips that always got her in trouble. 

They were not walking for that long, thankfully for Ava’s squished feet, before they arrived at what looked like a bakery. It smelled delightful and Ava’s stomach suddenly panged with a vicious hunger, she needed whatever was in the shop and a lot of it too. The bread was not her favorite thing on the ship, it was stale and dry and after the third sun there was none left and they had to eat sea biscuits. Hard and stale sorry substitutes for bread. Theo opened the door to the bakery for her and Ava stepped in taking another deep breath. She took a long look at all the pieces of bread and pastries out for display and her mouth watered. She was going to spend all of her money here before she even got anything she needed. 

Theo walked past Ava and to the woman at the counter and began speaking to her. Ava walked down the length of the shop looking at all the varieties trying to decide what she wanted. Before she could even order Theo called her name from a table. She looked up and saw that there were quite a few different slices of bread and pastries laid out in front of Theo. Ava walked over to the table and took a seat then raised an eyebrow, “I didn’t order anything.” 

“Don’t worry, I got these for both of us. The first time I ever came here it was packed with people and half sold out by the time I could choose what to get. Trust me on this,” Theo reasoned.

“For a woman's choice enthusiast, you sure seemed quick to choose for me. Am I perhaps finding flaws in your character, Theo?” Ava teased and Theo laughed.

“You can always leave this all to me and go pay for your own bread.”

“No thank you, this will do just fine,” Ava laughed and looked around the table before picking up one of the slices of bread on the table. Taking a bite, Ava swore she saw celestial beings. It was crunchy on the outside but warm and soft on the inside. She let out an audible moan and Theo laughed. 

“I know,” Theo leaned forward and handed her a small knife with butter on it, “if you thought that was good, try it with that.”

Ava spread butter on her bread and took another bite and somehow, it was the best thing she had ever tasted. She never took bread for granted until now. After that slice, she reached for another. Ava would have felt embarrassed at how fast she was eating but Theo was already finishing her second while reaching for a pastry. They sat in silence as they ate, too engrossed in the food to want to talk. 

After three slices of bread, one cheese pastry, and a fruit tart, Ava leaned back in her chair and put her hands over her stomach exhaling a large breath, “That was the best thing I have ever consumed. I was not worthy.”

“Bread. It just fucking gets you,” Theo mused and chuckled at herself. “What’s your shopping plan? What do you need?”

“Um,” Ava thought back to the mental list she had kept over the last few suns, “ink, quill, new shoes, maybe something new to wear just to have two things to wear-”

Theo laughed at that one and Ava scoffed and raised a questioning eyebrow, “No, I’m sorry. Carry on. I just forgot you were the rich greater house type.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ava crossed her arms.

“Means you’ve got ten gold and your priority is a change of clothes when the ones you have on aren’t even dirty. Probably cause you’re used to a change of clothes every sun and a bath drawn by your chambermaid,” Theo challenged and Ava rolled her eyes.

“Rich coming from the person who has three wardrobes full of clothes and jewels,” Ava challenged right back then broke out into a smile, “Now you’ve made me lose track of my list.”  
Theo laughed and got up, “Come on, I’m sure you’ll remember on the way.”

Ava got up and gave her thanks to the baker behind the counter before walking out with Theo. The sun was up higher now and people were beginning to come out onto the streets. Theo began to lead her through the streets and took Ava’s hand into her own when it began to get too crowded. She was taking her to a shop that sold stationery and writing materials that weren’t too expensive. Jarth wasn’t too fancy of a place like Tassey was. So she was sure Ava could find everything she needed with the money she had. 

They arrived at the small shop and slipped inside, there seemed to be no one but the shopkeeper inside and Theo let go of Ava’s hand, “Ink and quill should be here.”

“Thank you,” Ava said then began to look around the small store, walking to each of the shelves and examining the products. There were all kinds of colors of ink and types of paper. She found an ink and quill set for only four silvers and she bought it. Others were cheaper but she figured quality would last her longer. 

“Where to next?” Theo questioned as they exited the store.

“Shoes?” Ava suggested and Theo nodded.

“Ah! I know the perfect place for boots. They buckle together so there’s no need to struggle with pulling them off,” Theo offered and Ava’s nod gave her the go-ahead to start making their way to the next shop.

It was close by and they avoided the busy main street everyone seemed to be walking on. The more people she passed and the more shop windows she passed the more she was fascinated by how different everything was. Much less drab than Elox, if she was being honest. Much less green too, there wasn’t a tree in sight. 

They made it into the shoe store and then stopped by to look at clothes. After, they passed by an apothecary, a fortune teller, snuck onto the boat to drop off her stuff then ended up back at the bakery again for another pastry. As they were standing outside eating a sweet bread Theo pointed to a building down the way, “That’s the city center. Official jobs and vacant places are administered by some tellers there and there are also unofficial jobs and other announcements on a giant board there, things like that.”

“Right. The next things on my list, a job and a place to stay,” Ava remembered. She didn’t quite want to leave the ship just yet but maybe if there was a decent place to stay here with a good job she could settle for that, “Will you be coming with me?” 

“No, I’ve got some pirate things to attend to with Xyra and the crew. I’ll be waiting for them here.”

Ava nodded and looked at Theo, “Can I come?” 

“Afraid not, friend. Pirate only business, seeing as this is a bit more of a risky one,” Theo admitted and shrugged an apology.

Ava nodded and dramatically sighed, causing Theo to laugh. She stepped forward and saluted the captain, “I’ll be on my way then.”

“We’re leaving right after sunset so be back on the ship by then! We’ve got another three-sun journey ahead of us,” Theo called after her as she began walking away and Ava gave her a thumbs-up as she walked. 

She pushed past the crowded street and made it to where Theo had pointed to before. It was a large red building with armored guards standing outside the open doors. She walked into an open foyer of people and saw the large board full of small papers nailed in, advertising odd jobs and different parties. She made her way to the edge of the room where she saw people behind small desks with papers stacked higher than they were. She approached one of them and cleared her throat, “Excuse me, sir. I am looking for employment and a place to stay. I was wondering who could help me with that.”  
The man she had approached looked up from his paperwork and motioned to the chair in front of him, “How old are you, ma’am?”

“Well, 16,” Ava answered honestly. 

“Do you have a guardian with you?” 

“A guardian?” She repeated.

“Yes, your father or another man?” he asked, growing annoyed. 

“No, I’m alone. Why do I need one?” she asked, genuinely confused as to why she needed a man to walk with her to ask some questions.

“I’ve got no official employment for girls who are 16 with no guardian permission. For places to stay, I might have something for you,” He reached into his pile of papers and began sorting through it. After a few minutes, he had pulled out a few papers, “Without guardian permission, I only have four options of people who would be willing to rent to you. I have a four-room house, a villa, a basement under a clothing shop, and a room in a house. The cheapest of them would be the room which runs you at about 30 gold a cycle.”

Ava choked a bit as she heard the price. After everything she had spent she only had about 7 gold left and would not be able to keep up with payments of 30 gold a cycle. She blinked and sat in the chair for a second to take in her options. The man cleared his throat and motioned that he wanted her out of the chair and she got up quickly and left the area. She was embarrassed and confused, why was everything so expensive and what was the big deal about her age?

She supposed she would just head back to the ship. Looked like she would be staying on board for at least another three suns. She made her way out of the city center doors and before she could make her way back to the ship she spotted Theo, Xyra, and a whole motley crew of pirates walking down the main road of Jarth. She could just go back to the ship or she could follow behind and see what they were up to. 

She let the last of them get ahead of her before she slipped into the crowd, following closely. They walked off the main road into a less crowded street and she fell back further careful not to give herself away. They arrived at a three-story building that looked to be somewhat busy and went inside. If Ava followed, one of the pirates was bound to see her. She looked around for anything that would give her a line of sight. All of a sudden, a group of people rushed out from the building the pirates had just been in. That wasn’t a coincidence. Her heart began to beat faster, were they raiding the place? She found a tree across the street from the building and began to climb it. She climbed until she found a good view into the second-floor window, where she saw a dozen or more naked girls around the room, pirate crew and three men in front of them. 

That was the pirate business? Visiting a brothel? Ava was about to climb down when she saw Theo draw her sword. Theo looked around the room and said something and the girls all scurried out of the room. She stepped forward to the window and looked out onto the streets and the other buildings to see if anyone was looking. As Theo was scanning to see if anyone was looking she locked eyes with Ava and her expression hardened. Now that Ava was caught and Theo did not look like she was about to interrupt whatever was going on to get her to stop watching, so she stayed. Theo turned away from the window with a scowl and stomped back over to the three men. 

“Get them on their knees,” Theo spat out and three women stepped forward quickly, pushing the men to their knees, “You see, last time I was here I recall being merciful. I made you a deal, you treat the girls right and pay them their cut and I wouldn’t castrate you.”

Theo paced in front of them, twisting and turning her sword expertly in her hand, “I can’t quite wrap my head around why you won’t pay these women what they deserve. I’ll let you explain it though. You are on trial here, after all.”

“W-we’re struggling. It’s not business like it used to be. And-” the man in the middle gulped and wrung his hand in front of him, “and it's the three of us trying to p-provide for all of them.”

“See, I thought you would say something like that. So, I had my friend Xyra over there make some calculations for me. Xyra, how would you say business is at the grand ol’ Three’s a Crowd.”

Xyra stepped forward and looked down at a piece of paper she had, “Given that this here is a reputable establishment, they charge a standard rate of four gold an hour. The women work for ten hours a sun which means each of them brings in forty gold each sun.” 

“And how many would you say work here, good sir?” Theo pointed her sword to the one to her left.

“F-Forty, Captain.”

“Forty,” Theo repeated, “Xyra, please tell what does that put them at for the night?”

“Assuming some customers go for more than the standard rate, a minimum of 1,600 gold. Which means they each take home way over 500 gold each night,” Xyra calculated then took a deep breath before saying, “More than 250,000 gold coins for each of them each length.” 

Theo let out a wry laugh and pressed her sword against the same man’s neck, drawing blood, “But I didn’t even need her to tell me that to know you were lying because when business is bad I don’t wear thousands of gold worth of jewelry on me and silk robes while my workers starve every night.”

The man in the middle began sputtering tears and he held his hands up begging, “Please! Please, we’ll pay them equally, we will. I’m sorry,” he sobbed, “I’m sorry.”

Theo kicked his hands away and knelt in front of him, “You let disgusting men come in here and use these women, cycle after cycle and give them nothing. One gold every sun. You take 39 gold pieces from them every fucking night for what? What could you possibly need to buy that you don’t already have?”

The man struggled to answer and when he came up with nothing he resorted to more pleas.  
Theo stood back up and walked over to the man on her right, “Your business partner here doesn’t have an answer for me. And neither will you. Do you know why? Because there is no reason you do these things. There’s no sense to what you do to these women, you just do it to hurt them. You do it because you can because you want power over them, you want them to feel weaker and like they need you.”

Theo pushed her sword slowly into the man's neck, watching the blood begin to pour out. His wheezing breaths got raspier and wetter until blood filled his lungs and he fell forward. She made her way to the man on the left and he was shaking in fear, “See, I don’t enjoy this. Having to come all the way back over here and prove that I wasn’t throwing around empty threats. Having to come back and see that the women I thought would be in good hands are still suffering. But killing the likes of you lot makes all the other hassle worth it.”

She plunged her sword into the man’s chest and kicked him backward and off of it and she looked at the last man left alive, “Now that your two associates are gone I know you must be dying to know what’s going to happen to all your money and your business. Well, lucky for you I happen to be a master at business, and I have found that when you believe and invest in women, they tend to flourish. So, you’ll be happy to hear the recipients of your assets will be the lovely women here. Think of it as a grand repayment for all they’ve done for you.”

Theo lifted her sword and brought it down but stopped right before hitting the man. She laughed then waved her sword near his crotch and clicked her tongue, “How embarrassing you seem to have pissed yourself. Ladies!” Theo called and some of the naked women from before were now clothed and they filed back into the room and Theo took a few steps back, “He’s all yours.” 

Theo turned away and made her way to the back to the room. Xyra followed and Theo turned to her, “I have to go settle something outside. Will you make sure the money they find gets distributed between them. The crew gets none alright?”

Xyra nodded, “Be safe. I’ll see you on the ship.” 

Theo squeezed her shoulders and made her way down to the first floor; the sounds of the man’s screams prominent in the background. She made her way outside and ran to the tree where she had seen Ava, but Ava was no longer up there. Theo was livid that Ava did not listen to her when she said it was not business that concerned her. She needed to find Ava, she was afraid that she had scared her away but was also concerned that she would run and tell the authorities and there was no way they would leave port before they were caught. 

“Ava!” Theo yelled and spun in circles looking for her then began to jog down the street. Ava watched her jog by and away from the small alleyway she had snuck into after she bolted away from the scene. Once she had seen Theo separate from the rest, she scurried down the tree and ran, lest she be executed the same way those men were there to keep her mouth shut. 

She took quick shaky breaths and she began to panic. She had nowhere in Jarth to go because of her stupid age and their stupid rules. This is how she would have to live her life now, homeless on the street picking up sewer cleaning jobs to make ends meet. She began to feel tears prick up in her eyes, there was no way she could go back to that ship. Theo had gone in there and just killed people without batting an eye, what was to stop her from doing that to Ava. She had felt so foolish, befriending Theo and spending her nights chatting with a cold-blooded murderer, as if she wasn’t a pirate who stole and killed for a living. 

She tried to stop her crying, but she couldn’t. She had never seen someone die at the hands of someone else before. All of the tournaments and duels put on for her father’s expense were always when she was confined to her bedroom on punishment or she openly rebelled by not attending. That, coupled with the fact that the killing was mostly done by someone she had just literally broken bread with had her head reeling. She knew crying would get her nowhere, she had to regroup her thoughts and get somewhere safer, but she felt paralyzed in place. Ava’s heavy breathing stopped when she heard footsteps approaching.

She looked up and a person began to walk down the alley. Upon looking at their face, Ava saw it was a man. He was large and had a large scar running down his face, “Looks like I’ve got a proper young one, eh? Have you been crying, little one?” 

He began quickly approaching her with a twisted smile on his face. Ava took a step back for every one he took forward, the threat of Theo was slipping from her mind now that a much more real threat was in front of her. Her arms and legs were filled with a dreaded cold sensation she could only associate with pure fear. She felt something cold and hard against her back and realized she had hit the wall. Somehow, it had been the second time within a cycle that she had found herself in a dangerous situation, back against a wall, and a man trying to attack her. 

“Oh, come now, don’t be all scared about it.” He stood directly in front of her and roughly pushed her to the wall and began clawing at her shirt. Ava began yelling and fought off every swipe of his hand until he reached up a large hand and slapped her across the face with the back of it. She fell to the ground with a small yelp and covered her face. How did she get here? Barely an hour before she was enjoying freshly baked bread with a friend and now, she was about to get defiled then killed by some street grunt. 

Ava felt herself being lifted off the ground and she stood herself upright. She wouldn’t let him get his way that easily. She began to kick and punch the air in front of her wildly hoping to get a lucky hit and knock him out. He was bothered by her movements and he slammed her back against the wall, knocking the air out of her. Ava fell to the ground once again and she was too hurt to move. Oddly enough, Ava heard the air leave his chest and he dropped to his knees, too. His eyes were now parallel with Ava and they looked pained like life was draining from them.

She looked up and above her stood Xyra with a dripping dagger in her hand, “So you make it a fucking habit of getting snatched in alleyways? What were you thinking following us?!” 

Ava flinched from her place on the floor and looked around the alleyway. Morgana stood at the entrance and Theo came running and skidded to a stop next to her, “Xyra. Back up, now. She’s terrified.”

Xyra stayed in place, unmoving. 

Theo took two steps forward and yelled, “Now!”

Xyra glared at her and twisted her dagger in between her fingers staring at Ava with a spiteful look that could kill. She turned on her heel and walked away, pushing roughly between Theo and Morgana. Ava pushed herself further back into the fall and took deep breaths trying to recollect what had happened in such a short amount of time. The pirates were right there in front of her but none of them made any move to come and kill her. Xyra had the perfect opportunity and gave it up, so Ava felt confident immediate death wasn’t on the table. 

Theo stayed where she was but squatted down to get on Ava’s eye level. She proceeded with her next words very calmly, “Ava. There was a reason I asked you to steer clear. I know what happened back there looked bad but there is an explanation for it if you want to ask those questions later. Right now, can we take you back to the ship? You’ve just been through something that might be hard to process.” 

Ava didn’t answer, all she did was shake her head. Theo’s brows pinched together and she continued, “That’s okay. Morgana is going to be waiting right here in case you decide you want to come back to the ship and sail with us.” 

“What happens if I don’t?” Ava said weakly, her voice sounded small even to her.

“Nothing,” Theo answered, “You have freedom of choice, Ava. Stay or leave it’s up to you.”  
With that, Theo began backing up. Ava could see different emotions boiling to her surface. Concern filled her face but her stance was angry and tense. Soon enough, everyone was gone except for Morgana. Ava sat in her same spot for a long time, staring at the man in front of her. He was alive only a short while before and now he was lying in a pool of his own blood just inches from Ava. She cleared her head and focused on making her decision. The events that had unfolded after the dead man there had gotten a stabbing introduced a new factor into her decision. 

Theo seemed collected and not the deranged killer Ava had built her up to be in the minutes following the previous deaths. She actively stopped Xyra from threateningly looming over her for Ava’s sake and even offered to answer any questions she had. Ava was alive and was being offered to make her own choice which is much more than she thought she would have just a while before. She could stay in Jarth with no money and no guardian or any idea of the culture or customs of The Twins or she could go on a boat filled with pirates who make a living doing illegal things like murdering people. 

She knew she was being dramatic. The people on the ship had proven to be more than just pirates. They were a community of people who live by more chaotic rules than the average civilian but they were helpful and hospitable and damned her heart some had even become her friends. She had made her decision. When her legs stopped to shiver and her hands shook less, she finally gathered the courage to stand up. 

Morgana, who had sat down after she realized Ava wasn’t intending on moving anytime soon, quickly stood up as she saw Ava slowly approaching. Ava looked at Morgana and nodded, “I’d like to go back.”

Morgana smiled at her, “Glad to hear that, lass. Quite liked having you around.”

Ava nodded and stayed silent walking with Morgana slowly back to the ship. The sun was getting lower and it was only a matter of hours before they set sail and she hoped that nothing made her change her mind again. Morgana looked over at Ava several times and opened her mouth before closing it and going back to walking every time. When they were almost at the ship, Morgana finally spoke up.

“Listen, Ava. Back there, the whole big scary man assaulting you than dying is kind of a lot to handle. I know this is all new to you and where you come from pirates don’t roam the streets and thugs don’t pull you into alleyways to get their way with you. So if you need anyone to talk to, everyone on the ship is willing to listen.”

Ava found herself smiling and she leaned to the side and bumped into Morgana a little, “Thank you, Mor. Truthfully, you’re the only reason I’m staying. How could I leave your beautiful face.”

“Woah, careful there Ava. Word might get around to that girl of mine and she is willing to throw anyone off the plank for me,” Morgana played along and walked up to the ship. When they got to the top, Ava could see Theo waiting outside her quarters looking towards the entrance to the ship. They locked eyes and Theo quickly looked away. 

“Looks like the lady captain awaits. Boy, I would not want to be on your side of things!” Morgana called out as she retreated towards the infirmary. 

Ava walked over to Theo and Theo wordlessly walked inside and to her desk. She motions to the chair in front of the desk inviting Ava to sit as she propped her feet up on the desk. Theo said nothing, just sat there waiting for Ava to join. When Ava did, Theo still said nothing so Ava took the lead, “Why did you do that?”

“Do what?” Theo replied calmly.

“Don’t be coy. Why did you kill those men?” Ava asked.

Theo took a deep breath before answering, “This is the only time I will justify my behavior to you or to any person who is not on my crew. I like you Ava and that is why I offered you a place on this ship after directly going against what I said but I do not appreciate insolence so do not make it a habit.”

“You’re right,” she admitted. “I shouldn’t have done what I did, I was curious and it was stupid. But I saw what you did and you promised me answers.”

Theo scowled but nodded, “Very well. A while ago we came to Jarth and visited the place we were at. A whorehouse is what people like to call those places. Sometimes we frequent them, and when we do we ask questions. How much are the girls paid, are they treated well, what kind of people frequent the establishment; those kinds of things. When we started asking questions at this particular place we did not like what we were hearing. So I gave the owners an ultimatum. Start treating the girls better or I would hurt them.”

“To hurt isn’t to kill,” Ava deadpanned. 

Theo shook her head, “They agreed. They swore and they promised and they begged and we let them go in good faith. It only got worse once we left. The girls took a pay cut, they started getting longer hours and worse treatment. We got a letter about it from one of the women asking for help, we came back and helped.”

“Theo, you can’t justify taking a human life,” Ava tried to reason with her and Theo began to look angry.

“You and I come from very different places and we have very different views on morality. Tell me, was this the first time you’ve seen someone be killed?” Theo asked.

“Yes,” she said softly.

“I saw my first murder at 4. Where I’m from, a human life can be justified over a piece of stale bread. Three men died so forty women would stop suffering and finally be able to break the cycle of suffering and poverty for them and their children. I don’t kill for the pleasure of it. For me and most of us out here there is a justification for taking a life. At least we try to kill only when necessary, we have no quarrels over stale bread,” Theo finished and took a deep breath. 

Ava sat in her chair for a while processing what Theo said. It made sense, of course, it did. The reason she killed those men, the help she brought through it, the fact that they were not from the same background. She still didn’t agree but she reserved her judgments. She felt guilty about her spiral into demonizing Theo and the crew but not even three cycles ago she was having a bath drawn by her chambermaid daily and being sheltered and pampered. Death was not something tangible and real to her until that aftermorning and she was a bit in shock.  
“I apologize for questioning you. I don’t have to agree with you on your way of doing things but I can recognize you’re not senseless. I behaved badly and then reacted in an even worse way. I’m sorry.” Ava said and she truly meant it. She was a tad dramatic earlier in the morning and the crew had no responsibility to her and didn’t have to save her. 

Theo’s tense demeanor softened and little and her scowl faded, “It’s okay. I’m sorry for withholding that the whole pirate business thing was murdering lowlives. Also, are you alright?”  
Ava nodded, “Yeah. I’m okay. I did think you were going to murder me to keep me silent but now I’m over that.”

Theo let out a laugh, “Murder you? Never. That’s actually insane. I meant about the whole alley thing with the big dead guy.”

“Oh,” Ava said, so much for the dramatics before, “I think I’m alright. I’m probably going to have a few bruises but I’m sure I’ll be alright.”

“These things tend to affect you more up here,” Theo pointed to her head, “than physically. So if you feel unsafe or have any weird emotions I’m here to talk. Tuni too, I know you two have been close.”

Ava stood up and nodded, “Thanks. I think I’ll be heading to my room now. I’m pretty tired.”

Theo nodded and stood up to let her out, after opening the door for her, she reached out and touched Ava gently, “Hey, if you're not comfortable here, I understand. I can give you some money to get you started. I know The Twins can have some expensive restrictions.”

Ava thought about it. She should have taken the money. She could start a new life and never have to worry about paying it back. She could get on her feet and maybe even start a business. Life would be easy here if she had just a bit of extra cash. Everything in her screamed for her to just nod her head, take the easy way. Stop looking for trouble and just settle down but she shook her head, no. She was comfortable here. A part of her wanted to wrestle away that comfort and flee as fast as she could from pirates and death and the rocking of the ocean but she didn’t. It was bewildering to her how just a few hours prior she was spiraling about being homeless and out of options thinking she was about to be murdered for being at the wrong place at the wrong time, and now she was smiling at the captain of a pirate ship and turning down free money.

“Theo. Thank you, that’s very generous but I can’t. I’m okay here, I promise. The fact that this is an actual pirate ship might take some getting used to but I’ll live,” Ava tried joking and Theo flashed a smile.

“I have been telling you since the beginning that we are an actual pirate ship. Killing and all,” Theo admitted then retreated into her room, “Goodnight, Ava.” 

“Goodnight, Theo,” Ava returned, as she walked out and caught a glimpse of the setting sun.  
Theo waited for a few seconds before letting out a deep breath and closing the door. The whole situation could have gone a lot worse, the men could have had backup, Ava could have run to the authorities, she could have been hurt by that man. All in all, Theo would say it was a successful excursion onto land, besides that one small hiccup. Theo had never had to explain her actions to someone that wasn’t her crew nor did she feel the need to give justification for her actions to anyone, but somehow she did with Ava. Theo was thinking about that and the fact that she somewhat actually cared what a practical stranger thought of her affairs when Xyra walked in.

“Cap?” Xyra prodded.

“Hm? What’s needed?” Theo snapped out of her daze and Xyra walked over to her and pulled her into a hug. 

Theo was shocked for a second, Xyra was rarely the one to initiate affection but her embrace remained firm around Theo. After a beat, Theo reciprocated the hug and let herself be held up against Xyra; her cheek squished against Xyra’s chest. Xyra pulled away but kept her hands on Theo’s arms holding her at a short distance.

“Nothing. I just wanted to check in on you. See how you were doing. We’re ready to sail but I can do that. Just stick to the morning shift for tomorrow,” Xyra offered and Theo quickly shook her head. 

“I’ll be fine to sail. Nothing happened to me,” Theo pointed out and Xyra fixed her with a knowing look.

“Your tough exterior fools everyone, including me sometimes, but I know that these deaths affect you. It’s a lot to put on your shoulders, you need to let other people do the dirty work every once in a while,” Xyra said in a tone less pointed than usual. She wanted Theo to learn to lean on her crew, on those women who would lay down their lives for the ship and their captain. Xyra knew Theo needed to be slowly introduced to these concepts and not pushed to them so forcefully. 

“It’s my decision who the ship goes after and what we do. I will not ask them just to have my crew’s consciousness unnecessarily weighed down by this when I can take care of it myself. I will not ask my women to kill for me,” Theo said then pulled away from Xyra walking over to her desk and fiddling with papers on it as an attempt to distract herself.

“You wouldn’t be asking, Theo. Any one of those women would have delivered the killing blow. Happily,” Xyra 

“You don’t speak for them, Xyra. I know you know them but we give everyone their own voice here,” Theo reminded her.

“Then, I speak for myself. I am your first mate, your best friend. I would lay down my life for yours and would do what was asked of me. We have been side by side in everything for lengths and just because you are a captain doesn’t mean you have to stop relying on me. Theo, I know being in command is hard and I can’t pretend to know the struggles you go through but let me help,” Xyra said, her tone almost pleading and Theo was shocked at how vulnerable Xyra looked.

“This is really affecting you,” Theo stated and Xyra responded with a nod.

“I’m worried if you keep down this path of trying to protect everyone and shouldering the responsibilities that we’ll lose you. We lose a piece of your humanity every time we kill someone, Theo. You aren't numb to it like you make it seem. You aren’t weak for needing your crew, only men think like that and they often wind up dead a lot quicker than us. Leave fragile egos to the boys, yeah?”

And dammit, Xyra was right even if Theo didn’t want her to be. It wasn’t humanity she lost every time she killed someone, it was something else, something she couldn’t quite put her finger on. It didn’t get easier and she wasn’t numb to it, each person that died by her sword was a weight on her mind she couldn’t shake. Sometimes, she thought of herself as a monster who played god and made up justifications just to kill. But that was her mind playing tricks on her, telling her she was something she wasn’t. Xyra had not spoken in a few minutes, just waiting on Theo to speak up.

“You’re right,” Theo admitted softly, “It-”

Theo shook her head and took a deep breath and Xyra encouraged her to continue,” Theo, it’s me. You can tell me. ” 

“It does hurt to have to do this, it really does,” Theo admitted and paused in contemplation before continuing, “I’ll let you in on some of it. Just you though and it’s only because you insist. No other women carry out hits but us. I don’t want blood on their hands.” 

“They’ve killed already. Every time there is a raid or a fight they get blood on their hands, why is it different?” Xyra asked, her tone still not urgent or pressing. 

“Self-defense is different than in cold blood, Xyra, you should know that. I won’t ask anyone to put themselves through that. That is final,” Theo closed the conversation and all Xyra could do was nod and take the small win.

“Very well,” Xyra conceded, “I’ll start prepping the crew for the journey.”

“I’ll be out to start sailing in a bit,” Theo promised, not letting Xyra also get away with making her rest through the night. 

Xyra made her way out of the quarters and Theo slumped back against her desk chair. She closed her eyes and let the events of the sun play over in her head. She wanted to unwind and cursed her pride and need to be an example for turning down Xyra’s offer. Theo reasoned the sooner they started the sooner she could get to bed. She made her way out of the room and looked around at the pirates already beginning to prepare the ship for sailing.

“Alright! Let’s get this show on the road, ladies!”, Theo yelled as she made her way to the helm.


	8. Belonging

Theo woke up early and went through the motions of her captain's duties. At first, she was hoping Evana would have gotten started on her project so Theo could have an excuse to not do anything but help. However, when she swung by, to offer her help, she learned that Evana wouldn’t be starting for a few suns. With that plan foiled, Theo had no choice but to continue with her boring morning duties. She steered the ship, checked in with all the women she had encountered, ate lunch with Miss Yurwa down in storage and went through the inventory with Xyra. They would have to restock at their next stop on a myriad of things and she was looking forward to having to hassle and negotiate, something she did well. The morning came and went, nothing eventful happened to pass the time. 

Being a captain was fun but Theo was never the administrative, sit-down type, hence the choice to enter a life of pirating. Leading people into battle, sinking ships, finding treasure, manipulating men into lowering their prices, that is what she signed up to do when she became a captain. Not going over how many barrels of beer they need, and how much meat they have to find when they dock at their next city. 

The sun was beating down on the deck as Xyra and Theo made their way up from the storage room. Xyra was still droning on about supplies and stocking up and Theo felt bad, but she hadn’t caught anything Xyra had been saying, because as soon as she got onto the deck, all she could do was think about how it was past noon.

“Theo,” Xyra called her attention, “can I do that?”

“Aye. Of course. Do what is needed,” Theo said confidently and put her hands in her pockets.

“You haven’t been listening to a word I said, have you?” Xyra asked exasperatedly. 

Theo felt bad and she tried to give Xyra her most apologetic face, “I’m sorry. It’s just been a long morning and I know you don’t need me to double-check what we need because I trust you.  
”  
Xyra rolled her eyes and closed the notebook in her hand, “Whatever. Go enjoy the rest of your sun. I'll take it from here.” Theo smiled and hugged Xyra and Xyra pushed her away with a smile, “Leave me alone, you absolute scoundrel.”

Theo laughed and waved goodbye to Xyra as she announced the shift change to the rest of the crew. Theo made her way back inside the ship and to the library. She was hoping to find Ava reading there and invite her to hang out during the night like they had been doing throughout Ava’s time on the ship. Last night, Ava did not come by after their discussion but Theo was working the ship until late anyway. She enjoyed the new girl’s company and found herself missing their conversations last night, not that she would admit that out loud. Once she made it to the library she found Ava curled up with some biscuits and a book.

Theo walked into the room and leaned against one of the bookcases, “What are you reading there?” 

Ava looked up, a little startled, “Uh, the history of the first six classifications.”

Theo snorted a little, “I’m sorry. My apologies, but isn’t that a little boring?”

Ava shook her head and put her book and biscuits on the table, “Not at all. Well, at least not to me. I like reading about the past, it helps us understand where we are now. I think Cooker reminded me of that the other night and so I decided to pick up reading while I’m here.”

“Very insightful,” Theo smiled, “I just came looking for you to ask if you want to come by my quarters tonight?”

Ava looked quite surprised but she nodded anyway, “Yes, I would enjoy that.”  
“Great, I’ll see you after supper,” Theo said with a big grin and walked out leaving Ava to her book.

Ava was taken aback. Theo had sought her out and asked to spend time with her later. She wasn’t aware that her company was enjoyed that much by Theo. Enough to have Theo come looking for her to invite her to come by in the night. It crossed Ava’s mind that maybe this was because Theo was a nox, maybe she liked Ava. For some reason, Ava felt dirty for thinking that and immediately regretted it. Theo had not done or said anything that even hinted at that and was most likely just genuinely being friendly. As she had been the whole time Ava had been aboard. 

She was excited to be able to spend some time with Theo tonight after the debacle from the previous night. Ava wanted to clear the air and put the Jarth behind them. At that time though, she wanted to get back to her book. She opened it again and began reading. It was thick but she was nearing the end of it, she had sped through it. It was so interesting to her. She had only been taught the history and the houses of Elox and even then, her education was limited to reading about things that pertain only to Elox. This book was comprehensive and explained the overall history of each of the five continents. She has begun to discover what the other places were like and how they were formed, and she was excited to be able to go to Dove Island and more places in The Twins. 

The way society was rebuilt after the great war and the efforts made by the citizens in the first six classifications was fascinating to her and she found herself flipping page after page. Before she knew it someone was knocking on the doorframe, once again startling her out of her book trance. She looked up at the entrance and saw a large, tall, silver-haired woman standing there with a giant smile on her face, “My skinny friend, are you joining us for supper?” 

Ava laughed and stood up brushing some biscuit crumbs off of her clothes, “Yes, I lost track of time. My apologies! How have you been?” Ava questioned as she put away the book.

Morgana began to walk out and towards the mess hall, “Excellent. No sailing duty for me. I was under Aidan’s boatswain command this morning. Always a very easy time.” 

“Well, I am glad you got to be a lazy pirate, Mor.” 

Morgana laughed at that and brought a large hand to slap her across the back. Ava did not want to show just how much wind was knocked out of her and tried to subtly regain her breath. They made their way inside the mess hall where many women sat around the table, enjoying their warm meals. Ava had noticed during her time on the boat she had been somewhat adopted into a certain group. When she would eat meals or hang around the boat she would do so with Cooker, Morgana, Tuni, Oceane, Iona. Others would join them from time to time, a girl named Eva had joined them one night and Ava found it amusing to have an almost name twin. Just that sun at lunch, she had been introduced to someone new, a girl named Jakur who had been a pirate on the ship for about a length. 

The women that she hung out with the most seemed to be made up of many of Theo’s inner circle. She was surprised that, so quickly, she was able to adapt and be accepted into what she assumed to be a popular group around the ship. She had noted, during her time there, the different types of groups that everyone seemed to flock to too. The older ladies all tended to stick together, the carpenters, the master sailors, and many other little cliques. It wasn’t odd or uncomfortable though, these groups tended to mix and match and meld with each other. No one seemed to ever be turned away or excluded from a certain group and that made sense given the philosophy around the boat. The whole women supporting women because the world won’t vibe was something she had grown used to. 

Once she sat down with her food and greeted everyone at the table, she noticed Tuni wasn’t joining them, “Where is Fortune?” 

“Ah, off in her room doing something or other with a plant root she bought in Jarth,” Morgana offered the information as she began to slurp down her stew. 

Ava nodded and pretended to understand what Morgana had said through a mouth full of food and took note of who was around the room. Navi and Eva were in a corner hunched over a table looking at what looked like sketches of something. Jakur was engaged in a playful arm wrestling match with another younger girl. Pirates were scattered about drinking, eating, and having fun. Amongst the girls she saw Theo, floating between all of the people around the room. Like always, Theo graced everyone in the room with her presence, even if it was only for a few minutes. Theo finally made her way over to the table Ava was at and greeted everyone with a big smile and a hearty sigh as she sat down right between Cooker and Morgana. 

“Ah, if it isn’t the two smelliest pirates on all the Baethean seas!” Theo exclaimed and nudged both of them with her shoulders. 

“Oh, you flatter me, Captain,” Morgana laughed and lifted her arm holding it in the air near Theo before Theo swatted it away. 

“Where is your better half?” Theo teased and grabbed a biscuit from Morgana’s plate.  
“Up in the infirmary doing science things,” Morgana shrugged, “Don’t really understand.”

“Ah, so you’re just a free roamer tonight? An eligible bachelorette?” Theo prompted and Morgana laughed.

“I am as free as the wind and as dangerous as the ocean,” Morgana played along.

“Great. It’s settled then, you’ll be joining Ava and me,” Theo smiled and looked over at Ava for approval as if the invitation wasn’t already out there. Ava just smiled and nodded, she didn’t mind someone joining them and she loved Morgana. 

Morgana raised an eyebrow and glanced between the two of them, “You and Ava?”

“Aye,” Theo stood up, “The nightly free as the wind and as dangerous as the ocean meeting is taking place in my quarters and Ava is a part of it as well.” Morgana laughed at that, as Theo turned to the rest of the table, “Who else is joining us?” 

Cooker and Iona declined due to sailing duties and Oceane simply didn’t want to stay out late. 

Theo poked fun at all that declined for being boring and sticklers for the rules and began to back out of the mess hall, “The fun ship is leaving port.” 

“You’re an idiot,” Morgana stated and stood up, following Theo. Ava took the hint and followed them after she waved goodbye to her friends at the table. 

Ava caught up to Morgana and Theo and stayed a few steps behind them, listening to them talk. Morgana was just filling Theo in on something she was planning to buy at their next stop at Dove Island. Ava couldn’t understand the word that Morgana had said but from context and knowing Morgana it was probably a new weapon. Theo got visibly excited and Ava was focused on her animated expressions and conversation back to the captain’s quarters.

“What are we even doing tonight?” Morgana asked as Theo opened the door for all of them. 

Theo shrugged and walked behind her desk, “Ava usually just keeps me company and lets me talk her ear off.”

Theo smiled over at Ava and Ava returned the smile, “She does not talk my ear off.”

“You’re being nice,” Morgana laughed and sat on Theo’s bed, “If there is one thing Theo is better than anyone at, it’s talking.” 

Theo pulled out a small bag and sighed, “And to think I was going to share this with you, a bully.” 

Morgana gasped and stood up, walking over to the desk. It was the Dragon’s Breath that Navi had gifted to her, “No way. Where’d you get this?”

“Navi gave it to me last time we were at sea. It’s good stuff so I couldn’t finish by myself. Thought I’d break it out now,” Theo tossed it to Morgana who caught it with ease. 

“Fucking legend,” Morgana said and made her way over to a chair near Ava. Theo dragged over a chair then brought over a long pipe and her candle before sitting next to Ava. 

Ava watched as Theo handed Morgana the rest of the supplies and Morgana skillfully began to stuff the pipe with the blue substance inside. Morgana lit the pipe and began taking big puffs and exhaled a big cloud of smoke. It smelled sweet like nectar and Morgana began to cough violently. 

Theo laughed watching before reaching over and patting Morgana on the back, “I told you. This shit is intense.” 

Morgana simply nodded, still trying to catch her breath, and handed Theo the pipe. Theo followed exactly what Morgana did but held her breath for a longer while before finally exhaling in a big puff of smoke. Theo’s shoulders relaxed and she slumped back against her chair. There were no signs of her needing to cough and Ava was impressed. 

“Ava, you want some?” Theo offered, hoping this time Ava would join them. Ava looked at the pipe nervously and Theo had a sneaking suspicion that Ava had never smoked anything like this before. “It’s okay if you don’t want to.”

“No, I just don’t really know what it’s like or how to do it,” Ava admitted.  
Morgana clapped, “A newbie! Yes!” 

Theo laughed and made Morgana quiet down, “It’s like your head is light and floaty and everything is a bit funnier and your brain is a bit more relaxed. To do it all you have to do is inhale then exhale.” 

Ava reached forward and took the pipe out of Theo’s hands. She had never done any drugs before not because she had an aversion to them but because she would have never gotten away with taking any. If she wasn’t allowed to drink at 16 what made her think she could get away with something like this. She felt the excitement to try something new overtake the fear she felt in the pit of her stomach. 

She put the pipe to her mouth and imitated what she saw the girls do before her. She saw the wiry grass light red with each puff, she held it in until her lungs felt like they would explode, and she exhaled in a coughing fit. She was coughing for what felt like an eternity and when she finally managed to catch her breath, she saw Morgana and Theo staring at her with grins on their faces. 

She blinked slowly and began to laugh, the two next to her joining in. Theo took the pipe and took another inhale and Morgana patted Ava on the back, “Nice one. How do you feel?”

“Floaty,” Ava said with a lazy smile and she let out another small cough, “Like the universe is caving in on itself and I am going to be the only survivor.” 

“And one will be enough for you,” Theo said on an exhale and Ava nodded in agreement. One had been more than enough to make her feel like she had ascended into a new world. 

She slinked back in her chair and watched the pipe pass between Theo and Morgana for a few times before they set it down, both of them sporting red eyes and funny smiles. Morgana crossed her arms and nodded over at Ava, “What’s your plan for Riem?” 

“Riem?” Ava asked.

“Our next stop. You didn’t have any luck at Jarth finding a place, did you?” Morgana said and Ava responded by shaking her head. 

“No, apparently I needed a guardian signature since I’m sixteen. I don’t have that, obviously, so they were trying to charge me, like, 30 gold every cycle for a small room,” Ava shrugged. “I suppose I’m just going to have to try again in Riem.” 

Theo shook her head, “I’m afraid not, Red. The Twins law states that any woman under the age of 20 has to have permission to work and reside alone from a male guardian. If not it’s like triple the price of anything else.”

Ava frowned, “That does not seem fair. Why?” 

“Depends on who you ask but mostly because the authorities think that women who are seeking to be independent are either runaways, delinquents, criminals, or prostitutes. They claim it’s to ensure the safety of The Twins but that’s bullshit,” Morgana said with a scowl, “They just don’t want women to be independent.” 

“Men don’t need permission?” Ava asked, puzzled. That seemed unfair.  
“Fuck no, they don’t care about men frolicking about. They can legally acquire their own land at 13 and can begin to earn a salary at 10,” Morgana started getting more riled up with every sentence. 

Ava kept a frown on her face and shrugged, “Guess I won’t even bother trying to get anything in Riem, then. I’ll just have to wait until Dove Island. How do you know so much about The Twins?” 

“I’m from there. About two hours north of Riem,” Morgana said as she picked up the pipe from the floor and relit it taking puffs from it. “I’m visiting my family with Tuni when we dock.”

“Oh? You still talk to them?” Ava asked and reached for the pipe when Morgana was done with it. She took another hit from the pipe and this time she coughed a little less. If she had felt floaty before, she was definitely in the clouds now. 

“Aye, my dad and my sister. My mum passed when we were younger. I left the house to work in the city and send money back to them but ended up on a pirate ship making more than I ever would have anywhere else. I’ve got a nice sack of gold for them. Me sister’s starting school in the city soon and I have to pay for her school fees.” Morgana smiled proudly. She looked happy to talk about them and Ava felt warm and happy for her.

“I wouldn’t have thought anyone here still stayed in contact with their families,” Ava commented.  
Theo finally chimed in from her spot, “Not all the women on here are runaways.”

“Are you?” Ava asked and the room went silent. Morgana stiffened in her seat and Theo pursed her lips. Ava immediately regretted asking, “I’m sorry. It’s none of my business.” 

Theo shrugged, “No, it’s alright. I’m an orphan. No home to run away from, so no.” 

Ava stayed silent and watched Theo grab the pipe and take another hit. She felt bad for bringing it up. Theo didn’t look sad or bothered but Ava could tell by their body language that it was a sensitive topic. Theo finished with the pipe and passed it to Morgana.

“What about you? Runaway? Where are you from?” Morgana asked.

“North Elox,” Ava said avoiding naming a specific city, “and yes, I guess I am a runaway.” 

“Why? We don’t see too many girls from great houses become runaways,” Morgana observed and leaned back in her chair.

“How do you know what type of house I’m from?” Ava asked, avoiding the question and leaning forward. She raised an eyebrow.

Morgana leaned forward as well, “Your posture, your grammar, your etiquette, how you’re so skinny. All of that tells me you’re not from a lesser house. That means you’ve either been born into a noble or a greater house. But no one would be stupid enough to leave a fucking palace and the noble lifestyle for a pirate ship so nobility is off the table. Which means you’re from a greater house.” 

Ava laughed and shrugged, “I guess you’re right. Good detective work, Mor.” 

“It’s kind of obvious you’re from money,” Theo admitted, “Probably also why you were up-charged for that room in Jarth.”

Ava’s mouth dropped, she hadn’t considered that being from a rich background they would try and swindle her out of more money. She also hadn’t realized it was obvious that she even had a last name, “So, I’ve got to act like a pirate to get by?”

Theo laughed and teased Ava, “Aye, the best thing for you to do is just sprinkle in some mates, fucks, and ayes into your conversation and you’re good to go” 

Ava giggled at that, the dragon’s breath was clouding her head and making everything into a joke, “Aye, I’ll fucking do that, mate.”

Morgana slapped her knee and laughed at Ava, “You’ve got me convinced. Welcome to the crew.”

“Good. Now I don’t even have to look for anywhere to go,” Ava commented and put her thumbs up, “Pirate time.”

Morgana looked between the two of them and stood up, “Pirating is fun. Anyways, ladies, I’m out. I’ve got a scientist to go bother.”

Theo and Ava both waved goodbye to her and Morgana exited the room. Theo began stuffing the pipe again with fresh dragon’s breath and stayed quiet for a bit. She looked up and handed Ava the pipe after lighting it and smiled, “I wanted to let you know that If you don’t like anything or don’t find a place to stay when we get to Dove Island you can stay on the ship. As a passenger, I mean. Until we get somewhere.”

Ava looked up at Theo, shocked from the sincerity in her voice, “Thank you.”

“I know that with everything that happened yestersun at Jarth that it might be a little disconcerting for you to think about more time on this ship but there isn’t a rush,” Theo offered then lit the pipe.

“About that... Yestersun was my fault. I’m sorry for the whole debacle…” Ava hoped her apology came across as genuine, “You didn’t hide the fact that you killed people. You told me you did on the first sun I was here. You are a pirate after all. I was just in shock I think, never seen something like that before.”

“Aye, it can be shocking. Pirating is not a life that lacks any excitement or horror,” Theo admitted.

“What does it take to become a pirate anyway?” Ava asked. This ship was more welcoming than any place would be, she thought. But was she even capable of becoming a pirate?

“Each crew does it slightly differently but for this crew, it is pretty simple. The first requirement is you can’t be a man if you wanna be on the crew. Second requirement is you have to have a job onboard. Some people are sailors, some are our vanguard, others cook and so on. Third, you have to be able to pass a test that simulates a pirate raid. You’ll have to at least know what goes on with each part of the ship and the procedures and at least be able to defend yourself.” Theo explained.

“That’s it?” Ava questioned.

Theo shook her head, “No, that is just what the Scorned Woman does to confirm pirates. Then you take part in the pirate ritual. We sail you to a special place to swear an oath on a specific night in a specific way.”

“What is the place and the oath?” 

“That I cannot tell anyone until they are ready to become a pirate,” Theo said with a smile. Theo handed Ava the pipe she had stuffed earlier but Ava declined. She felt like every sentence she said had to be carefully calculated and formed before she could speak it. That’s how in the clouds her head was, a goofy smile rested on her lips and Theo laughed at her, “You’re so high.”

Ava guffawed and sat up straight, “Says you! You’re so high.”

“I am,” Theo stated with a smirk. They both looked at each other and started to laugh, “You’re good company, Red. I’m practically a stranger you have no obligation to spend your nights with me.”

Ava clicked her tongue, “Nonsense. You’ve allowed me to spend my nights with the captain of a pirate ship. If anything it’ll be a hell of a story to tell for the rest of my life. Plus, you’re intriguing.”  
Theo went to say something when the door opened and Xyra appeared on the other side, “We have a sailing concern.” 

Theo scrambled to her feet and hid the pipe behind her as if that would do anything to help. Xyra looked around the room and then sniffed the air. A frown appeared on her face and she rolled her eyes, “Really, Theo? Come on, it won’t be for long.” 

“Alright, I’ll be right back,” she told Ava then set down the pipe on the floor. She began walking towards Xyra and she raised her hands in defense, “Listen, Xy, Morgana was here earlier and it was her idea.” 

Ava covered her mouth to keep from laughing, afraid that she’d give Theo away. It was funny to hear how the captain of the ship acted like a teenager in trouble and told a blatant lie when there were no actual consequences. Xyra just seemed to have that effect on people, Ava would have to ask what the deal was between them.  
She stayed in Theo’s room for a little while but Theo didn’t return. Ava didn’t know if it had been a long time or if time was simply passing slowly. She would have left and gone back to her room except she wasn’t entirely too sure how to get back in her current state. She walked around the room taking in all the random decorations and knickknacks that Theo had around the room. Her body felt like a stone and her eyes were beginning to feel heavy with sleep and she made her way over to Theo’s bed and sat down on it. It felt soft and squishy under her and she flopped backward onto it. She let her eyes close as she sunk into the plush pillows and she made a back and forth motion with her arms. 

If it weren’t for her being intoxicated, she would have never dreamed of being this intrusive. It was a mistake because she felt unable to get up. Every minute that passed, she told herself she would stay in Theo’s bed for one more minute, she needed to get up before Theo came back. But as each minute passed, she felt more and more tired until her eyes sealed shut and sleep overtook her. 

Theo walked in about two hours later annoyed with an irate expression on her face. Fuck Xyra for keeping her for so long. Theo just knew it was intentional. There was no way she was needed for that long and Xyra was known for having a petty streak. She was having a good night, even getting new information about Ava she hadn’t known before and then Xyra crashed it.

Her aversion to Ava was beyond Theo and she had an apology on her lips the second she walked back in. Looking around though, she didn’t immediately see Ava. A second glance around the dimly lit room showed Ava curled up on Theo’s bed. Her curly red hair fell into her face and she had a slight frown on her lips. It was probably a bad part of her dream, Theo thought.

Theo walked over to the bed and pulled the blanket over Ava, leaving her to rest. She grabbed a comfortable sleeping ensemble from her dresser and made her way out of the room and into a spare cabin. Ava looked like she could use the sleep and her big bed was certainly more comfortable to sleep in than the cabin ones. 

By the time Theo found an empty cabin, changed, and got into bed her body was screaming for sleep after a long sun of sailing and being out. Usually, her mind would race with all of the next sun’s responsibilities and she would stay up for a good while staring at the ceiling, but not that night. The comedown of the dragon’s breath left her wiped and she found herself dozing off soon after her head hit the pillow.

———----------------

Ava awoke to the sound of metal clinking against metal and the sounds of various pirates engaged in different conversations. She cursed herself for leaving her window open and getting awake yet again, but when she opened her eyes, she saw she wasn’t in her room. She jolted up and looked around. She was lying down in Theo’s bed with a blanket over her and no Theo to be found. She scrambled off the bed and began to tidy it up, sheets tucked under the bed and pillows fluffed.

As she walked outside, she found herself in the middle of what seemed to be some kind of training session. All of the members of the crew were spread out around the deck, weapons in their hands. Most everyone seemed too preoccupied sparring to notice. A few women, who were exchanging parries close to the captain's quarters, looked over at Ava but quickly returned to their work. Ava felt her cheeks heat up and the embarrassment from earlier washed over her again.

She knew how it looked, emerging from the captain's quarter in the early morning in the same clothes as the night before. Ava, along with most of the crew, wore the same outfit every sun but the situation was still suspect. The women who had looked overpaid her no mind though, and returned to their work. 

Either this happened a lot or these pirates just really didn’t care about anyone else’s business. It was most likely a mix of both, though. She saw Xyra at the opposite end of the deck, hands locked behind her back as she paced back and forth. If there was anyone Ava didn’t want to notice that she came out of Theo’s room it was Xyra. 

Ava quickly walked away from Theo’s room and lingered around the ladder that led to her cabin. She stared as she watched Xyra shout command and the pirates followed. They each had a sword or a dagger in their hand and they seemed to be going through training drills. She was mesmerized with how the women knew what to do and when to do it. Her attention was so focused on the women training she didn’t notice Theo coming up next to her.

Ava felt her cheeks heat up for what felt like the eighth time that morning, “Good Morning. I am so sorry for falling asleep like that. I would never have-”

Theo raised her hand, stopping Ava. “No need to apologize. It was funny. There are also plenty of empty cabins on this ship so it was easy relocating.” 

Ava nodded in response and flashed Theo a smile, “Well, thank you for letting me have your bed for the night.” 

“You are quite welcome,” Theo smiled at her then looked over at the crowd in front of her, “Dola, you are leaving your side open! Fix your stance!” 

Ava watched as the young girl Theo directed changed her stance. Ava did not know much about fighting but it seemed to be a more effective way to stand. She wondered how people learned this and how they would not forget this during a moment of high stress. 

“Can you teach me?” Ava asked.

Theo let out a small laugh and shook her head, “Pirates and will-be pirates only, love. I’m sorry.” 

“I have almost gotten abducted and assaulted various times. Should I not be able to at least defend myself?” Ava reasoned. If there was anything she had learned about Theo in the short amount of time they had spent together is that she seemed to respond well to logic. 

Theo smiled and shrugged, “I suppose you’re right. You’d need a weapon though and last I checked, you were missing one.” 

“So you’re telling me you would give me enough money to get settled somewhere but wouldn’t just give me a weapon?”

“You have a point there.”

“Enough of a point to give me a weapon?” 

“No,” Theo laughed. 

Ava crossed her arms in front of her and tried to regroup her thoughts to make a better argument. Before she made up her mind Theo had begun moving away from her and back into the sea of pirates, shouting commands and corrections. Ava knew a lost cause when she saw one and thought she would return to her book about the first six classifications. 

She made her way down the familiar route to the library and took residence in her favorite chair. The book was large and the author was unfamiliar to her. The tales told in the book were ones she had never heard before, it was history no one ever bothered to tell her about. She was fascinated and every page she read led to more questions than answers. Stories of revolts, cultural shifts, struggles that spanned across all the continents of Baethos. 

By the time she heard the bustle of the pirates filtering back into the lower decks of the ship, she had made significant progress on her book. There were only a few hundred pages left and she was determined to finish this before arriving in Riem. She tuned out the noise coming from outside the library and dove back into the book. After a while, she heard footsteps entering the room. 

“Frentnocker is a great author. He puts all those revisionists to shame. Nothing more refreshing than getting your history from him. Shame he’s no longer with us,” Cooker commented and took a seat next to Ava. 

“Revisionist?” 

“Aye, books published by Baethean scholars and taught in schools do not tell the full story. I make sure to stock the library's collection with nothing of that sort though. Like Frentnocker, he really gives you the raw details.” 

“You stock the library?” Ava asked.

Cooker nodded and motioned around the room, “Aye, most of these books I’ve picked myself. It’s not like many of the girls here enjoy reading or curating a collection so the work falls on me, not complaining though it keeps each city exciting. I’m always on the lookout for what is new.” 

As Cooker finished talking, Morgana and Theo entered the room. Morgana pointed at Ava’s book and laughed. 

“Frentnocker, good choice,” Morgana said in an accent resembling Cookers.

Theo laughed at that and took on the same accent, “My anti-revisionist savior! The only author in the world that tells it to you the way it is.” 

Cooker made a rude hand gesture in their general direction and Ava laughed at the exchange. She was surprised at how accurate they had both been in mimicking Cooker. Morgana reached forward and took the book out of Ava’s hands. 

“The complete history of Baethos. Classifications one through six,” Morgana read out loud, “In Foina’s name, no wonder you and Cooker get along so well. Of all the books in the library, you chose the history of the first six classifications.” 

“Leave her alone. You can’t even read,” Cooker snatched the book back and handed it back to Ava.

“I can read. I just choose not to,” Morgana corrected and found a seat to sit down in, “I don’t need to read to know what any of those books will tell you. Baethos is a horrible rotten cesspool of corruption and The Center should burn.” 

Ava’s head darted up and she stared at Morgana. She hadn’t heard language that divisive and absolute since she started her journey on the ship. Further, she had never heard speak that way against the center. It was a crime punishable by imprisonment to speak ill of or threaten Baethos, any member of the council, or the Center. What was even more surprising was the small round of cheers that went around the room. 

Both Theo and Cooker had clapped their hands and cheered to the statement. Ava knew how to read a room and knew better than to ask questions about this. It made sense, ultimately these women were pirates and pirates were hunted and killed by Baethean law. Treasure hunting, murder, burning down another ship; it was only a matter of time before she heard illegal talk against the state. 

Morgana caught onto the silence and raised an eyebrow, “Everything good?”

Ava just nodded and Morgana chuckled. 

“A greater house Eloxian hearing people say they don’t like Baethos. Must be a new one for you, huh,” Morgana pointed out, her tone of voice was not rude but Ava felt attacked. 

“Yeah I did not make it a habit in the past to hang around people who use treasonous language,” Ava replied, somewhat worked up. 

Theo sensed that the conversation would not be going anywhere productive. Morgana was as opposed to the government as any woman on this ship and Ava would never understand why. At least not at this point, not when Ava had had so little exposure to the realities of the world outside of the bubble of luxury that is created by being a part of a greater house. 

“That will be the end of that discussion,” Theo said. Morgana opened her mouth in protest but Theo wasn’t going to even let her get the chance, “That will be the end of that.” 

Morgana understood and nodded her head, slinking back in her chair admitting defeat. Cooker, not one for uncomfortable silence brought the next topic to the floor, Riem. They each talked about their plans for Riem. From what Ava gathered, Riem was not anything special and the shops were scarce. Cooker and the crew were headed to the only tavern in town to spend the sun there while Xyra and Theo attended to business. Theo was in the middle of explaining an odd tradition that goes on in the tavern when they heard someone clearing their throat in the doorway. 

“If I am not mistaken, you two left to find Cooker and come right back quite a while ago. Can I have an explanation as to why I have been waiting in Theo’s chambers this whole time?” 

All four of the women in the room snapped their heads up to face Xyra looming over them all. Theo cleared her throat, “Xy, I’m sorry. We lost track of time down here and we were debriefing about some Riem things.” 

“Debriefing that couldn’t wait until we were all together at a meeting, we scheduled specifically for speaking about Riem?” Xyra pressed.

Theo could feel her chest start to bubble with anger at being spoken to that way in front of everyone else. Xyra and her had a special relationship and Xyra kept Theo grounded. This is how Xyra spoke to her when they were alone, and Theo needed guidance. Sometimes Xyra even spoke to her this way when they were together with their close circle. But she was never spoken to that way in front of a passenger or any crew member that wasn’t close to them. It would have been easy to bite back at Xyra and put her in her place, but she felt wrong about it. 

There was no reason to get angry. Xyra crossing a line was something that could be resolved later and away from everyone. Nothing good would come of the situation, plus something must have been bothering Xyra to cause the attitude. She would resolve it later. 

“You’re right, Xyra. We should have come back up. I don’t like wasting your time and I truly am sorry.” Theo apologized and Xyra nodded in response, “Well, Ava. I think that is our cue to take our exit. We’ll see you later.” 

Ava waved her goodbyes and focused back on the book. Theo and the rest of them headed back to her quarters. She took a seat behind her desk and propped her feet up on the table. Xyra immediately launched into the duties that were required of each one of them once they arrived in Riem.  
Theo and Xyra were to meet Norhan, their contact in Riem, to secure some more leads for the next bounty. Cooker was assigned to keeping the crew at bay when they all visited the tavern. Last time they were in Riem, Theo went away, and the crew ended up creating quite a commotion. Cooker was now in charge of the safety of the crew and the townspeople too. Morgana was given a list and charged with going to fetch different things needed to keep the inventory up for the journey from The Twins to Dove Island. 

“I don’t even want to be quartermaster, why do I have to get the supplies? Xyra could do it. All the shopkeepers know her name. I need to rest before my journey north.” Morgana complained.

“The duties you were given by Xyra are the ones you must follow. Plus, Xyra has her own things to do, she won’t have time,” Theo said.

“I’m visiting my family. I won’t have time to do that.” 

“Your passage is not booked until 11, that is during aftermorning. You know the shops open at 7 in the morning. That gives you plenty of time to go to the shops and get what is needed.” 

“Captain-”

“This is not up for further discussion, Mor,” Theo interrupted. “You wanted more responsibilities on this ship that includes doing things you don’t want to sometimes. Xyra is your first mate and her orders are my orders. Do not undermine her commands by coming to me again.” 

“Aye, Captain,” Morgana resigned, “If that is all I will be taking my leave.” 

Theo nodded and motioned for Morgana to leave. After saying her goodbyes, Cooker also made her way out of the cabin. It was just Theo and Xyra. 

“You want to tell me why you kinda freaked out earlier over a meeting that could have been rescheduled?” Theo asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

In all honesty, Xyra knew she did not have to have the meeting that sun. She could have probably just let them all hang out for the aftermorning and found time in the next few suns to brief them on their time there. She knew it full well and still made them come upstairs and have the meeting. It wasn’t that they had disappeared and left her waiting, it was commonplace with any pirate on here to get distracted. It was that they were distracted with someone that was not even a member of the crew, a rich runaway who felt entitled to everyone’s time. 

“It needed to be done now. We are never guaranteed what tomorrow or the sun after will look like,” Xyra said and crossed her arms, mimicking Theo. 

Theo sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, “We both know that is bullshit but I will let it go. What I won’t let go is you speaking to me that way in front of people. Especially in front of a passenger.” 

“Her opinion of you shouldn’t matter.”

“It’s not her opinion of me that I care about. You undermined me out there and I do not want it to happen again. Understood?” 

Xyra did not answer, she simply just nodded. 

Theo pressed on, “I need a verbal response. You are my first mate and I choose very wisely when to not head what you say or the commands you give. That is because I do not want the crew to see your authority as less than mine. That is not something I need to do, it is something I do because I respect you and your wisdom. But you? It is your job to do what I say, make me look good, and support my image to this crew and the outside world. Is that understood?” 

“Understood,” Xyra said through a clenched jaw, “And just so you know, I do not appreciate being talked to in this way either.” 

“Don't make me have to get stern with you and you won’t have to experience it again,” Theo countered and locked eyes with Xyra for a few moments. 

“Fine. If that is all, I will be leaving,” Xyra said.

When Theo did not answer, Xyra got up and left the room. Theo breathed in deeply and then let out a long sigh. She hated having to confront her crew, specifically the ones closest to her. Getting strict and demanding with her crew was something she did all the time but it did not make it any easier. Theo sat in silence for a while, listening to the shouts of the crew outside. She watched as the sun dropped under the horizon and felt her stomach growl in wait of food.

At this point, with both Morgana and Xyra upset with her she did not feel like making it down to dinner. She felt that her best option is to just fall back on the jerked meat from Aeliz she kept hidden in her room to snack on. She grabbed the bag she kept hidden in the back of a drawer in her desk and began to snack. A few bites in, she decided to pull out the last of the Dragon’s Breath that Navi had given her.

Theo went through the calming routine of stuffing the pipe before lighting it ablaze. She watched as the smoke she exhaled curled and danced around the room before dissipating. She took turns snacking and smoking but eventually, the jerky ran out and her stomach was not satisfied. It was almost as if Piordios, the god of the sea himself, had heard her because soon after finishing her jerky there was a knock on the door. 

“Theo? Are you in there? I noticed you did not come to dinner, so I brought you up your ration,” Ava called out from the other side of the door. 

“Come in!” 

Ava opened the door slowly and the first thing that hit her was the smell of dragon’s breath. She walked over to Theo’s desk and set down the food carefully. Theo motioned for her to take a seat and Ava did. 

“You were not at dinner,” Ava said.

“Aye, very astutely observed,” Theo grinned.

“Why?”

“Morgana and Xyra are cross with me. I did not want to stir the pot even more.” 

“Why are they cross with you?”

“I’m making Mor do something she doesn't want to do and I had a difficult conversation with Xyra earlier,” Theo admitted and relit the pipe. 

“I don’t mean to be too forward but are you addicted to drugs?” Ava asked and whispered the last word.

Theo let out a loud laugh and shook her head side to side, “First of all, you do not need to whisper. It is not a bad word. Second of all, no I am not addicted to anything by any means.” 

Ava raised an eyebrow unconvinced, “You say that but you’ve had some of that at least three times in the last half of a cycle.” 

Theo once again let out another loud laugh. Instead of responding though, she put the pipe down and began to eat. Ava just sat there quietly and watched Theo eat. Her head started to feel a little light and she attributed it to the smoke she was inhaling.

Finally, Theo spoke up.“I have used this more frequently than I usually do, I will admit. But I had reasons every time. Plus, I’m a pirate. If you are not smoking or drinking three times a sun something is wrong. I, by all accounts, am very healthy in my consumption of illegal and mind-altering substances.”

This time, Ava was the one that laughed, “What were your reasons then?”

“First time… Hm, I guess because I hadn’t done it in a while. Second time, to have fun with my crew and also to get you to try it. This time? Well, just because I’m sad.” Theo admitted.

Ava was taken aback by the honesty of the last statement. By Theo’s expression, she was just as shocked to have let that slip. Theo seemed like the type to keep things bottled in. Ava did not want to pry but she did want to allow Theo the chance to open up. 

“Why are you sad?” Ava asked, her voice soft and tone lighter than it had been in her previous line of questioning, “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.” 

Theo was quiet for a while. Not because she did not want to answer, which she didn’t, but because she did not know why. She tried to pinpoint the weight that had been on her chest the past few cycles. It was hard but something about the clarity that dragon’s breath gives on matters of the soul and the directness of Ava’s question that allowed her to reflect. After a few minutes of thinking, she knew. She knew the origin of her stress and her sorrow. 

She felt the urge to blurt it out. Now that she had found out what was making her feel this way, she wanted to just share it. But this was a virtual stranger. They knew nothing about each other and somehow that just made Theo want to tell her more. This was not something she could share with those people she did let in. Morgana, Cooker, Xyra, Navi, Tuni, none of them could know. Ava seemed like she knew how to keep a secret and there was a high likelihood that she wouldn't even be on this ship within the next cycle. 

“I don’t want to be captain,” Theo said on an exhale. 

Ava could not speak. She was shocked. It was better to keep her mouth shut for now anyway. This wasn’t a time for her opinion or interjection. She waited and Theo continued.

“I-” Theo was trying to collect herself and Ava could see the frustration on her face from trying to figure out how to voice her thoughts. “I love this. I love being captain but sometimes I wish I could just give it up, you know? I wish that I could just be Theo, a pirate on a regular pirate crew. No expectations, no stress, no people in your care, no having to bark out orders.” 

Ava nodded.

Theo continued, “I’ve never felt this way before. Usually, we can raid, and sail, and bring justice to those who deserve it, and drink, and look after the crew and I think nothing of it. But lately, I have been constantly thinking about the fact that these women have entrusted me with keeping them alive.”

Theo stayed quiet for another little while but Ava could tell that she was not finished. There was more to be said and Theo proved her right.

“I think more than anything, sometimes, I just wish Xyra would have taken command of the crew and not me. I can’t help but think how much better she would be than I am at this,” Theo finished. 

“I cannot comfort you much, all I can say is that these women do not put trust in you to keep them alive. They all know the risk associated with pirating. I think they put their trust in you to take care of them and give them good opportunities. From what I have seen, you are doing an excellent job at both,” Ava offered. 

Theo’s serious demeanor was replaced with a small smile, “Thank you, Ava. That was… unexpectedly pleasant advice. Also, thank you for the dinner.”

“That was not all selfless. I came to ask you for something.”

“What is it?”

“I want to learn to defend myself.” 

Theo sighed and rubbed her face, “We went over this. I don’t want to be the bad guy any longer, can we not rehash this?”

“I do not think you are listening to me. I am a woman who needs to learn how to defend myself. I have been attacked twice already and I do not want to be put in that position again. All I need is a small knife and someone to teach me how to use it,” Ava insisted.

Ava was stubborn, that much was certain to Theo. She was bold, assertive, intuitive, calculated, fiery and dammit she had a point.

“Fine, I will ask someone to help you. Morgana will find you a weapon suited for you. If they are busy, tired, need rest, or do not want to help you I cannot make them. They will only teach you if they want and when they want, understood?”

Ava went from serious to beaming, “Yes. Understood. Loudly and clearly. Very much understood.” 

“Good. Now, I have a favor of my own to ask you. Will you go get me another ration?”


	9. Secret Lead

Ava woke up the next morning to a knock on her door. Slipping out of bed, she tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes. To her surprise, Oceane stood on the other side of the door. She had not spoken to Oceane or spent time with her outside of meals. She looked as if she had been up for a while, alert and put together. 

“Good Morning,” Oceane spoke, “Theo asked the crew if anyone that was free would like to help you learn to defend yourself. I have a free morning and somewhat adequate skills with a dagger.” 

Ava’s sleepiness had magically disappeared from her body, “A dagger?”

“Aye, I swung by the armory and picked one up for you just in case you were interested,” Oceane said as she held it out for Ava to see. 

“I am interested. Very interested- '' Ava suddenly felt bad, “-but I do not want to get in the way of your free time.” 

“There is no other way I’d prefer to spend my morning than helping someone learn something new.”

“Alright,” Ava smiled, “let’s do it. Fair warning though, I have absolutely no experience.” 

Oceane laughed and began to lead the way out of Ava’s hallway and onto the deck, “That does not matter to me. Sometimes, a challenge is fun.” 

Ava was handed the dagger and taught how to stand. Oceane wasted no time in jumping into the lesson. Ava was taught how to hold it, how to wield it against someone moving towards her, and the different fatal points on a person’s body. Oceane was a good teacher, encouraging yet firm. The sun rose high in the sky and began beating down on them. They didn’t stop until the shift change was announced. 

“You were born for the dagger,” Oceane said.

It was genuine and heartfelt. Oceane was almost proud of what Ava had accomplished in such a short while. Oceane rarely found someone so willing to learn and accept criticism. It made Ava easy to teach and very quick to grab onto certain things. She was in no way excellent or proficient in daggering yet but now Ava would at least be able to have a chance at defending herself. 

“I had an incredible teacher,” Ava replied with a smile. 

They went their separate ways, Oceane went to work and Ava roamed around the deck. There was not much to do around the ship during their suns at sea. She had no job and had no option but to aimlessly roam most of the morning and aftermorning. Oceane was a great distraction and it made the morning go by faster but now she was left with no options. Everyone she had grown to know during her journey was busy or unable to be found. Her footsteps ended up leading her back to the library, where she predictably picked up the same book and started where she had left off.

Yestersun’s conversation with Cooker had been bouncing around in her head. Revisionist? She had never heard of that. Thinking back to the books she had read and what she had been taught, there was never an ill word about Baethos or the government. When she had been taught about the first six classifications, most of what she was reading about was not mentioned. 

Had she been indoctrinated with falsehoods? Or were these the falsehoods created to make Baethos look bad? She wanted to talk to someone about it, ask questions, understand what people thought of the government. But Ava was scared. Scared that she would be labeled a government apologist and thrown off the plank. 

Reading was the only solution. She had to find answers to the questions she had and she would have to do it by herself for the time being. So she resumed reading. There was a thirst inside her and every page she read only meant she wanted more. It was a few hours later when there was a knock on the doorframe. Ava looked up to find Morgana in the hall. 

“I heard that you were being trained this morning,” Morgana commented, “and I am insulted that I have not been given the chance to train my small friend.” 

Ava laughed, “Careful with the names, I can wield a dagger now.” 

“Aye, that is what I was told. But I bet you didn’t learn to do it the Morgana way.”

“I did not.” 

“Would you care to learn?” Morgana held out her hand.  
Ava put the book down and took her hand, “I would be honored to.” 

They went back up to the deck and Ava showed her the dagger Oceane got for her. 

“I remember when we got that one. Do you know where I got it from?” Morgana said. 

Ava shook her head.

“We had just finished raiding a merchant ship when we found these three men below deck that had a large bounty on their heads. Fugitives. One of them, Higal, was wanted in Dove Island for the murder of their nobleman. It is said that this is the dagger that pierced the heart of the most hated man on Dove Island.”

Ava dropped the dagger onto the floor, “Lord Bardstos.”

It slipped out of her hand. She was in shock.

Morgana looked at her with a raised eyebrow, “Aye. How is it you know?” 

Ava cleared her throat trying to compose herself. She was certainly not going to give Morgana the truth. The truth that Lord Bardstos' death was a tragedy amongst her family. That she often played with his daughter during her long stays in The Center. Lord Bardstos spent many cycles at her house and with her father. In the chests, she left behind were dozens of gifts she had gotten from the Bardstos’. The thought of her holding the dagger that killed him made her sick. 

“There are legends of him in our hometown. He was killed in Elox so he is said to roam the land in pursuit of revenge,” Ava lied.

“Scared of a ghost haunting the dagger?” Morgana laughed, “You can use mine for now until we get you a new one then.” 

Ava wanted nothing more than to go to her room and lay down but that would arouse suspicion. She was going to go through with whatever Morgana had planned for them and deal with whatever she was feeling later. 

There was a time for emotions and there is a time to handle them. This is not that time. Ava’s mother’s voice bounced around in her head. 

“Very well then,” Ava held out her hand for the dagger, “Let me show you what I know.”

Morgana handed her the dagger, laughing, “You are very odd. I am sure I have said that before, but it bears repeating. Go on and show me.”

And Ava did. She showed her the technique Oceane had for handling the dagger. She demonstrated that she knew all the weak points in the body. She even did a small trick with it that Oceane had shown her. Morgana nodded her approvals and gave her small pointers to improve what she was doing. 

“So, you’ve learned the basics. Very impressive too. Oceane is good, eh? But what I am going to teach you is more how to hurt someone or weaken them with your body first, then go in with the dagger,” Morgana explained.

“So, punching?”

“Kicking,” Morgana grinned, “you’ve got long legs and we are going to use that.” 

Morgana spent a long while explaining to Ava how to defend herself. She was taught different kicks and how to put more strength into them. Morgana taught her how to kick in someone’s knee. Ava learned dozens of different ways to weaken someone and then strike with a dagger. If Ava was being honest, she had forgotten all about the previous conversation by the time they had ended. She was having a lot of fun. She also felt powerful and, for the first in her entire journey, a little bit capable of being on her own. 

“Keep training like that and you can be on the vanguard,” Morgana said while bringing a strong arm to clap her on the back. 

Ava coughed a little at the impact and then let out a laugh, “Thank you for flattering me.”

“You’re a natural. You need to work on strength, but you’ve got the movements down. For a beginner you’ve got good skill,” Morgana said. 

Ava felt good about the feedback. She was not bad at it. It made her feel good and safe and she was glad that there were some people so willing to help. They did not make it seem like a burden, in fact, it felt more like a race to see who would train her. They heard the call for dinner and said their goodbyes. Ava gave Morgana an excuse as to why she wasn’t going to dinner and then headed to her room. The moon was bright outside and the night sky was clear. She opened her window and let only the moonlight wash into her room and brighten it. 

Under the dim light, she got into bed and closed her eyes. Her thoughts were racing, and she wanted them to calm down so she could just grab onto one of them. The dagger. She held the dagger that killed a friend of her family. The way Morgana told that story as if it was some kind of accomplishment. She felt somewhat nauseous about the whole ordeal. There had been such a load of information in such a short amount of time, she felt overwhelmed.

What had the government done to make the pirates so hateful? Who was correct and who wasn’t? She was amongst thieves and criminals; she was taught never to listen to them. They were flawed and corrupt. But those were lies. These women have done nothing but give her a place to sleep and keep her safe. They did bad things, but they also did good things. The world was not as black and white as she had been taught. 

She got lost in her thoughts. Going through all of the things she had been taught and comparing it to what she now knew. She began to question everything. Suddenly, that thirst for knowledge from earlier tugged at her chest. She was so engrossed in her thoughts she almost missed the knock at her door. The person knocked another time.

“Everything alright in there?” The voice called out. 

It was Theo. 

“Yes. Uh, you may come in!” Ava called out as she sat up. 

Theo opened the door, plate on her right hand, “You missed dinner, so I brought some up for you.”

Ava smiled, “Thank you very much.” 

“You’ve been all the rage tonight at the table. Tall tales of your abilities with a dagger. Talks of you joining the vanguard,” Theo recounted with a teasing tone in her voice. 

“I was too afraid to ask everyone else... What is vanguard?” Ava asked. 

Theo let out a short laugh, “For us pirates, it means the first people that go over the boat during raids to secure the ship. The ones we send on land for dangerous missions. The front line, I suppose.” 

Theo handed Ava the plate and Ava invited Theo to sit. Theo walked over to Ava’s desk and sat down. 

“Seems dangerous.”

“It is. Also thrilling.”

“It is thrilling to have a high probability of dying?”

“Most of us do not fear death. When you do not fear death, everything becomes a little more fun. Opens up all kinds of adventures,” Theo smiled.

“I fear death so that would not be for me,” Ava said before she began to eat.

“Fair enough. Have you been enjoying your lessons? The girls being good to you?”

Ava nodded ‘yes’. 

“Good, good. I’m glad to hear it,” Theo got up from the chair, “I’m afraid I am busy tonight and cannot stay any longer. I just wanted to make sure you were doing all right and you got some food.” 

“Thank you,” Ava said, “Have a good night.”

Theo nodded goodbye and made her way out of the room. 

Ava understood, Theo was the captain and had many duties. The fact that she even cared enough to bring her dinner was astonishing. But still, Ava felt a little disappointed that she would not be spending more time with Theo. She reasoned that at least this way she could get to sleep early and get rest. So that is what she tried to do. She laid down and shut her eyes, but it was a long while before she could sleep.  
\----------------------------------  
Oceane knocked on Ava’s door in the morning. She was going to take the morning to herself but apparently, Morgana had been teaching Ava more things. Oceane wanted to keep the momentum going. If Ava were to disembark, Oceane wanted her to be safe. Ava opened the door looking a lot less sleepy than she had the sun before. 

“Another lesson?” Ava cut right to the chase.

“Aye, are you up for it?” Oceane asked.

“Yes. I do not have a dagger though,” Ava admitted. 

“Mor told me at dinner last night. Haunted blade and all that. I got you another one. Same weight and length as the other one so it wouldn’t be any harder to handle.”

Oceane handed her the blade and Ava took the lead, walking them out to the deck. Ava showed Oceane what she had learned from Morgana the same way she had shown Morgana what Oceane taught her. They spoke for a little, just small pleasantries about the sun ahead before diving into work. 

Oceane thought it would be a good idea to teach her how to get out of certain positions and defend against an attacker. This training was a lot harder than the sun before and they both had to take rests. During one of their rests, Ava wanted to know about Oceane. 

“Where did you learn to fight like this? On this ship?” Ava asked.

“No, I learned from a friend. Where I am from, you must learn to defend yourself or you die,” Oceane said solemnly.

Ava felt a pang of guilt. Most everyone on the ship had gone through such a hard life and she had faced no adversity.

“I am sorry you had to go through that,” Ava admitted, “I know- I know that apologizing doesn’t change anything but, I am.” 

Oceane smiled a bit, “You’re right. Doesn’t change the loss we faced as children but thank you. Let’s get back to it, yeah?” 

Ava nodded and got into a stance where she was balanced and firm, indicating she was ready. The morning went much like the last, going over drills and exercises until the next shift was called. Ava then retreated into the library, she knew if she focused she would be able to finish the book that very aftermorning. She didn’t put the book down until Morgana came to the door. The aftermorning went just the same as the one before but this time Ava did make it down to dinner. She sat with her usual table and had a few drinks too. With enough drink in her system to make her sway when she walked, she turned into bed. Yet another night without her nightly meeting with Theo but she was tired anyway, that is what she told herself

\----------------

The next few suns at sea went the same. Oceane and Morgana helped her train and, in between, she read. She had finished the first six classifications and moved on to the next volume. This one was larger and only covered 3 classifications. Cooker occasionally would come down to the library in her free time and read. They never spoke but the company was very welcome. 

It was the last night at sea and they were due for Riem early in the morning. As she was curled up in her designated chair she heard footsteps enter the room and someone sat in the chair across from her. Ava looked up expecting to find Cooker but instead, she found Xyra. 

“I need to speak with you about the time you are taking from my crew,” Xyra said plainly, with a flat and serious tone. 

“Excuse me?” Ava asked, affronted. 

“You heard what I said. My crew works very hard and their downtime should not have to be spent wasting energy and teaching you combat.”

“Everyone that has helped me has come to me and offered. I have not asked a single person. Theo made it very clear that if no one were to want to help me that I would not be trained. I have been polite and followed rules and not been in the way. I do not understand your distaste for me,” Ava asked. 

She knew Xyra was the first mate and Ava’s position on this ship was far from guaranteed. She just couldn’t stop the attitude that arose in her. Ava had promised herself that when leaving home, she would stand up for herself. It was the beginning of a new life and that started with asking hard questions and pushing back when others tried to intimidate her. 

“Be that as it may, you are getting way too comfortable on this ship and with my crew. We still have not even vetted you. Please know you are very closely watched and one flaw and you are out of a place to stay,” Xyra continued with a serious heavy tone. 

“Understood, thank you for the reminder. You will find I am not doing anything to warrant me being removed from my place on this ship. I intend to sail to at least to Dove Island so please understand that my presence on this ship is unavoidable for the time being,” Ava adopted Xyra’s tone and stared at her. 

“That is understood as well,” Xyra got up and left without another word. 

Ava felt angered at the interaction. She wanted to march right up to Theo and complain about that behavior. But that was a coward’s move and if Ava could handle anything it was a little bit of intimidation from a bully. She would continue to do what she was doing and Xyra would continue to be angry. There was nothing to stop that. No need in telling Theo and making matters worse. Ava did not see Theo for the third night in a row. It was alright, she hadn’t really seen Theo do anything but work the past few suns. Tomorrow was Riem. She was excited at the prospect of a new city and nothing but fun to look forward to. 

\---------------------

Theo was awake before the sun came up. She wanted to prepare the boat they were taking to shore before anyone woke up. Xyra was mad at her for not coddling her for once and Morgana hated being up this early, it was the least she could do. Tuni emerged first from her cabin and walked over to where Theo was. Theo greeted her with a kiss on the cheek and Tuni warned her not to expect much of a good mood from Morgana. 

Morgana and Xyra appeared at almost the exact time like an internal clock had gone off and told them both it was time to leave. Morgana helped Tuni into the boat, then Xyra, and finally Theo. Theo and Morgana rowed them all to shore in tense silence. When they got to land, Tuni stopped them all before they parted. 

“Please be safe,” she said as she handed them each a small sack, “I’ve packed you some breakfast and lunch for the journey. We will be back tomorrow morning.”

“Thank you. Be safe and enjoy meeting her family. Morgana, enjoy,” Theo said and put the food away. 

Her and Xyra made their way to the only stable in Riem and secured themselves passage to Nuki, a small village on a cliff an hour away by horse-drawn cart. Xyra and Theo made themselves comfortable in the cart as they began their journey. At first, it was silent as each of them consumed the breakfast Tuni had packed for them. 

Xyra was the one that started the conversation.

“If Norhan gives us a merchant ship that has more than 30 men on it would we try and take it?” 

“I would rather avoid it but if we don’t have any other options I’m afraid something like that must be done. We need supplies and all these fucking ports keep closing their shops to us,” Theo commented.

“We need to recruit,” Xyra said.

Theo let out a chuckle, “Ironic given that we have a possible recruit on board as we speak and you keep pushing her out.” 

“I don’t trust her.”

“Yet everyone else on the ship seems to.”

“We know nothing about her,” Xyra tried to reason.

“That gives us less of a right to draw judgment then. Xyra, I promise the moment she does something that harms my crew or my ships, she is out. But she has not done anything to merit our suspicions,” Theo countered. 

“I am trying to be overly cautious. You are a growing name amongst some circles and I want to make sure you stay safe.”

“Are you suggesting she is a spy?”

“I’m only saying that spying has been a growing trend lately and we need to be careful,” Xyra admitted, “and any recruit we take on must be vetted.”

“I agree.” 

“Alright, and please just tell me you will be careful with what you say around her?” 

“I promise,” Theo held out her hand, “If you promise to not give her a hard time or any stern lectures.”

Xyra smiled a little and shook Theo’s hand, “Promise, but I might have already had a stern conversation with her last night. It made me look unhinged.” 

Theo could not help but laugh, “Then can you please apologize for that and moving forward, can you be civil?”

Xyra nodded, “Aye, Cap. Back to what I was saying, I am still interested in recruiting. We need to put the word out. We need more women and more fighters if we want to take on bigger ships. Maybe we can think of starting the fleet expansion?” 

“Let us figure out how to fill out our own crew before having dreams about a second ship,” Theo said, “but go ahead and put the word out. I want to start recruiting once we hit Dove Island.”

Theo and Xyra kept talking about the ship, the possibilities of what was next, what port they wanted to go, and which places were the most likely to open their shops to pirates. They often did this, imagined hypotheticals and what they would do before receiving all the information. It never helped them in the long run but they couldn’t help themselves. 

Once they arrived at Norhan’s, the sun was beginning to rise high into the sky. Norhan’s home was small and modest, and both of them made themselves comfortable at his table. They talked about local politics for a little bit, commerce had been a bit slow because the fishing season was winding down, but that was the extent of the news from Nuki. He offered them tea and some homemade pastries which they graciously accepted. 

Norhan was a retired sailor who turned to the underground market once he was finished with his life at sea. He was good at providing tips and leads on merchant ships and Baethean ships. A large and tall man with tattoos lining up his arms, he seemed scarier than he was. After sailing, he discovered his passion for cooking and the women were always sure to eat well every time they saw Norhan. 

Norhan had a sunny disposition and could recount tales better than anyone they knew. It was easy to get caught up in his stories and lose track of time. It was the case this time around, and before Theo knew it, they had wasted half the morning on nothing. 

“Norhan, my friend,” Theo said after they had just settled down from a laughing fit, “I enjoy every minute of my time with you, but I am afraid we must get down to business.” 

“Ah, you are correct,” Norhan got up and walked over to his desk. He pulled out a pile of papers and handed them to Xyra. A whole lot of nothing but there are some good ones.” 

Xyra flipped through the pages and pulled out a few papers, “Tell us about these.”

“Well, there are three merchant ships. One is carrying clothing and bedding from Efriti. Another has medicine and potions. Last one, they have a bunch of different food in it that is heading for The Center. All three of them are guarded by a small ship full of Baethean men,” Norhan explained.

“Well then that is shit then, isn't it? We can do fuck all with that,” Theo said. 

“Aye, but there is one I’ve kept from everyone else. Just north of Dove Island, there is a place that is dedicated to training elite Eloxian military agents. They have just recently stocked it fully, but the first set of trainees is not set to arrive for another 8 cycles. It is a length's worth of supplies guarded by about 30 to 40 men,” Norhan revealed.

“There will never be another window in which this is possible,” Xyra said.

“Aye. It also ruins the army’s plans for a little. A small fuck you,” Theo said bitterly. 

“So you’ll take the tip?” Norhan asked

“Aye,” Theo nodded and handed him a sack full of coins, “One half. The other when it proves to be true.” 

Norhan took it with a smile, “Always a pleasure. Next time, you must come with more time on your hands. I need to show you this amazing Aelizian dish. It would remind you of home, Theo.”  
“When I come back to give you payment I will be sure to leave my night free just for you,” Theo smiled, “Xyra, the women await.” 

They took their exit and made their way back into town on the same cart they left in. Theo left an extra two gold with the driver to thank him for waiting longer than expected at Norhan’s. They entered the Blue Bull, the only tavern in town, to find it packed with a large mix of different women. A large cheer erupted from the center of the room when they walked in. 

“Our captain has returned!” A voice called out from somewhere in the room. 

Everyone cheered at that and Theo began to make her rounds around the room, greeting her crew. She finally made it to the bar where there was already a pint of ale waiting for her. 

“Thank you, Ivan,” she called to the bartender and made her way over to where Cooker was, “Any updates? Damages I have to pay for? Lords, to kiss up to?” 

Cooker laughed and shook her head, “I have been an excellent shepherd of my flock of pirates. They have not wandered far and they have kept very good manners. Except for this one, she bit someone and then raided all the shops.” 

Cooker pointed over to Ava and they all laughed.

“That is a lie. I didn’t raid all the shops. Only a few,” Ava said with a mischievous smile. 

“Well, I’m glad to hear you are embracing the pirate life. Cooker, you are now free of your duties and can go blackout,” Theo offered. 

“Cap, there is no need. I am okay, you should enjoy the night,” Cooker said. 

“Nonsense, I’ve enjoyed my nights at sea. I will watch over everyone. Go enjoy yourself,” Theo said as she shooed Cooker out of her seat. Theo sat where her friend had just sat and laughed, “Go on, go.” 

Cooker finally obliged and made her way towards the bar. Theo turned to Ava and saw that she had no drink in her hand. Theo held her pint out towards Ava but Ava waved her hand, no. 

“I am not drinking tonight. A new strange city plus drinking is probably not wise,” Ava admitted.

“Then I suppose you will just join me for the rest of the night observing the drunkards from a distance,” Theo said. 

“Is that an offer to spend the night in each other’s company, oh Captain,” Ava teased.

“Aye,” Theo played along, “I missed the company of my favorite passenger the past few nights. I would be honored to keep your company tonight.” 

“I am very fortunate then,” Ava said, “How was your sun?” 

“Uneventful,” Theo replied then took a sip of her drink, “I haven’t spoken to you in a while, how are you doing?” 

“I’ve been fine. There is not much in Riem in terms of prospects, as I suspected, so I will just be waiting it out on the ship until we reach Dove Island, if that is alright?” Ava asked. 

“Aye, no need to even ask. You may stay as long as you need,” Theo replied.

There was a loud crash behind Theo and when she turned around she was faced with a fight. It was one of her women, Malta, brawling with a patron. She bolted out of her seat and straight to the commotion. 

“Oi!” Theo yelled.

She tried to fit herself between them to stop the fight but a loose punch found her jaw and sent her stumbling backward. Theo looked around the room to see who was near and could help and found Xyra rushing towards her. Theo knew Xyra would catch on to what was needed so Theo jumped back into the fight. She secured herself behind Malta and began to pull her back. 

“Break it up, Malta!” Theo exclaimed while trying to ground a thrashing Malta.

Xyra had made it over to the man and managed to drag him away. At the sight of the man letting up, Malta stopped her protests. Theo did not let go of her grip on Malta, she leaned in close to her and whispered, “Outside, now.” 

Theo let go of Malta with a slight push and they made their way outside, presumably to work it out. Xyra went to follow but Theo asked her to stay and watch over the rest of the women. Ava sat stunned from her spot, the man Malta had fought looked grotesque. Both of his eyes were already swelling and there was blood spilling from his mouth and nose. Most of the women had fallen silent and those who were talking were speaking in hushed tones, gossip most likely. 

Theo came back in alone and walked over to Xyra, “I’m going to need you to take all the women back to the boat. You might need help and the only one sober enough to have any sense is Ava, would you be willing to cooperate?” 

Xyra nodded and looked over at Ava who was staring at them, “Aye, it’s no problem. What are you going to be doing?”

“Making sure everything is in order here. Settle the tab and talk to that man into not calling the local authorities,” Theo explained and then patted Xyra on the shoulder as thanks. 

Theo brought her fingers up to her mouth and let out a loud whistle to call everyone’s attention.

“Listen up ladies, unfortunately, actions have consequences and you will suffer these consequences as a group. You must return to the ship immediately, Xyra will escort you back. Captain’s orders. Anyone found off the ship will be put on swabbing the deck and working for full suns with no time off until our next time on land.” 

Some people around the room groaned but the response was a lot more subdued than most would expect. Theo had the respect of her crew and they obeyed what she said. They shuffled out of the tavern as quickly as they could. Ava followed the crowd out of the tavern and began to walk to the shore with everyone else. A voice called out her name and she quickly turned around, Xyra was beckoning her over. Ava made her way back over.  
“Would you be able to stay back and walk with me? We’ll be taking the back of this line and I need an extra pair of eyes to make sure no one slips rank,” Xyra explained.

Ava nodded and stayed silent, standing by Xyra’s side as more women made their way out. Once Xyra was certain there was no one left, she began to walk and Ava followed. 

“I wanted to apologize,” Xyra said in her common cool tone. 

Ava was taken aback, there was no hostility in her voice. The apology was as close to genuine as she believed Xyra could be. But Ava was not sure exactly what she was apologizing for.

“For what?” Ava asked.

“For being abrasive and rude for the majority of your stay. For the conversation last night, it was unwarranted. I still do not trust you but that should not affect the way I treat you. I let my biases get the best of me and I was reminded of that earlier. So, for that, I apologize.”

“Oh.”

“Aye.”

They walked in relative silence for a while, the only sounds being the pebbles under their feet. Ava really couldn’t think of anything to say. Xyra was showing a different side of herself and Ava felt the coldness she had built towards Xyra melt away a bit. It was hard for Ava to admit when she was wrong and Xyra did it with such ease. 

“I forgive you,” Ava said, “I appreciate the apology.” 

Xyra nodded and folded her hands behind her back, “I am going to need your help finding the least drunk out of them to assign them to rowing duties. Can you do that?”

Ava nodded, she wanted to laugh at how quickly the subject changed but couldn’t mess up the one-time Xyra has trusted her with something. 

“Alright, we have three boats that need to be rowed back, it takes two women to row a boat. It is going to take several trips and I’m going to be on one of those boats to guide them. Can you stay on land and make sure no one causes any more fuss?”

Ava was about to say no. If a pirate decided to slip away or start a commotion there would be no way for Ava to stop them but she nodded anyway, “Yes. I can do that. Find six of the least drunk people and make sure no one escapes?”

“Good math skills,” Xyra said with an almost teasing tone. 

Ava smiled a little and separated from Xyra as she began on her mission. Her first find of the night was Cooker. Ava knew that Cooker had only managed to drink a little bit before the fight broke out. Ava walked over to her and took her hand, leading her over to one of the boats. 

“I have a mission for you, alright? I need you to help everyone row back and I also need you to stay right here,” Ava said and then left Cooker there. 

Soon, she had gathered up all the women needed and had them lined up by the boats. If anyone were to ask her, she had gone above and beyond in her duties. Xyra walked by and saw the women waiting and ready to go and Ava would swear there was almost a smile. 

Xyra began to count the women into the boats and then entered one herself. As Xyra began the expedition to get all the punished pirates back on the boat, Ava stayed behind to keep order. She really did nothing as all the pirates preferred to moan about having to stop drinking than escape. Swabbing the deck was a pretty good deterrent. 

Ava watched as the pirates came and went until eventually, it was only her and a few other pirates left. Ava was finally picked up and she rode in the boat back with Xyra. Halfway through the journey, Xyra cleared her throat and Ava looked up. 

“Thank you for your help tonight,” Xyra said. 

“You’re welcome,” Ava replied. 

\------------------------

“Again, I am very sorry about her. She has a hard time with her temper,” Theo said as she pulled out her sack of coins and handed the man ten gold coins. 

“If I see her again, I will have her jailed,” the man said angrily, snatching the coins out of Theo’s hands.

Normally, Theo would laugh or make a rude comment but she was not going to try her luck. It was better to bite her tongue than have to see a crew member arrested. The man, who had a swollen face and a missing tooth, made his way out of the tavern with a limp in his step. 

Ivan who was behind the bar set down the glass he was cleaning, “Theo…” 

Theo sighed and took a seat at the bar, “I know, Ivan. I fucking know.”

Ivan poured out a shot of dark liquor and handed it to Theo. She muttered a small cheer before downing it. Theo winced and then coughed a little, it was strong stuff. Ivan refilled the glass.  
“She won’t be allowed in here anymore,” Ivan said.

“Aye.”

“And you need to be careful or you won’t be allowed to make port here anymore.”

“Aye,” Theo sighed again and took the shot in front of her, “I know all of that. But what do I do? They’ve never been this out of control.” 

“Maybe they need a reminder of what it takes to be in your crew. Assert your control and make them listen,” Ivan offered and Theo laughed at him. 

“What would you know about managing a pirate crew?”

“I’ve had to raise six boys on me own. Boys and pirates? Not much different.” 

Theo nodded, “Six wonderful boys might I add. Speaking of, would the eldest two of those boys be willing to row me back to my ship? I’ll pay.” 

“They’ll do it without pay. They have no need for the extra coin,” Ivan said and walked away to call his sons. 

Theo placed a stack of coins on the counter to settle the tab for all of the pirates using Ivan’s tavern that night. There was more than enough in there to cover the alcohol, the damages from the fight, and extra for the hospitality. 

The story of Ivan was quite a tragedy, he had three different wives who all gave him two children. Each of the wives died during their second childbirth. After that, Ivan could not find someone to marry and help him take care of his sons, it was thought he had a curse on him. Theo had to spend a few cycles in Riem when she was younger. She stayed with Ivan and his boys. The two oldest boys were around her age and they got along quite well. For suns on end, they would play in the attic of the tavern and go out at night for mischief. Ivan walked in followed by the two eldest, Robert and Unil and both of them lit up when they saw Theo. 

“Papa said we had to row someone to their ship. He failed to tell us it was the one and only lady pirate,” Robert said. 

“In the flesh,” Theo replied, smiling. 

“It’s been a long while, Theo. It’s good to see your face,” Unil said. 

“And yours,” Theo smiled, “What have you scoundrels been up to lately?”  
Robert immediately hopped into a passionate speech about his new job at the blacksmith’s shop. Theo hopped down from her stool and nodded a goodbye to Ivan. She followed the boys out of the tavern and down the road to the shore. She learned that Robert had already done so well with his apprenticeship, there was talk that he might get the shop. Unil had just started schooling at a small town’s school a few miles away on horseback. 

Theo listened intently as they made their way onto the rowboat. Robert and Unil began rowing and Theo settled in for the ride. Theo was telling them the story about Espbar and the treasure. Theo tended to inflate the stories, both for more laughs and also to inspire grander tales of pirates. The scarier the tale the more likely it was that merchant ships would surrender instead of fight, making it much easier for pirates. 

“We weren’t sure we’d catch you,” Unil said after recovering from a hearty laugh, “Glad we did though. I love to hear your stories.” 

“You know I love to stay in Riem and I wouldn’t leave without at least saying hello to you two,” Theo said, slightly confused by the comment.

“But with a lead that insane, we figured you would be long gone,” Robert said.

“My lead? How do you know about my lead?” Theo asked, leaning in towards them.

“Everyone knows about it, Theo. It’s a big deal.” Robert answered. 

“Norhan told me he hadn’t told anyone about the base,” Theo said. 

“Base?” Robert and Unil asked in unison.

Theo stared at them both. She had a feeling they were not talking about the same thing. Robert and Unil were harmless but she was not going to spill her lead. 

“What lead are you both talking about?” Theo asked with a tilt to her head and her eyebrows furrowed. 

“Vaith,” Robert answered and Theo’s blood went cold. 

She stared at them for what felt like an eternity. She could feel her heart beating in her ears and she had a hard time swallowing.

“What about Vaith?” she asked. 

Both of them hesitated and stared at Theo. They had stopped rowing, sensing the growing tension radiating from Theo.  
“What about him?” she urged. 

“He’s sailing from The Center to the head of Dove Island. Some sort of diplomatic meeting…” Unil said in a quiet voice. 

Theo grew silent. 

“Your contact didn’t tell you about that?” Robert asked.

“That’s one possibility,” Theo said and rubbed her hands over her face. Either Norhan withheld information or Xyra did. Xyra was the one that looked through the leads and picked the ones she thought would be best. Theo didn’t want to believe it, but it was a possibility. 

Being kept in the dark aside, Lord Vaith was crossing the ocean and Theo happened to be in the perfect spot to intercept him. Her head was foggy with a million thoughts and hypotheticals. She needed to talk to Xyra to straighten things out and talk strategy. Vaith being in a position to be ambushed was a game-changer. 

“Theo?” Unil called.

“Aye.”

“We are here. Are you alright?” 

“Aye, I’m alright lads. Thank you for rowing me over here.” Theo said and reached into her pocket. She pulled out four gold coins for each of them, “Here. Do not tell your father.”

Robert laughed and took the coins, “As if we are that stupid. Thanks, lady pirate.” 

“Aye, anytime.” Theo smiled at them and climbed off the boat and over the side of the ship. 

Xyra was on the ship’s deck alone, waiting for Theo. It seemed everyone was either in their cabin or below the decks. It was eerily quiet on the ship. Theo walked past Xyra and into her quarters, leaving the door open. Xyra followed and once she entered, Theo walked over and stood in front of her. Looking up at Xyra, she drew in a deep breath. 

“There was a lead withheld from me. Vaith is sailing to Dove Island,” Theo said plainly. 

Xyra’s face paled and she looked blindsided, “Vaith?”

Theo knew there was no way Xyra would withhold that from her. She didn’t want to ask but she had to make sure, “Xyra did you-”  
“Keep the lead from you? No. I would never, not when it comes to Vaith.” Xyra answered before letting Theo finish. 

Theo nodded, “I believe you. I’m sorry, I just had to ask. That means it was Norhan. But why?” 

Xyra bit her lip to refrain from saying what she was thinking. When it came to Vaith, she needed to tread carefully. Xyra took a deep breath trying to think of the best way to say what she was thinking. 

Theo sensed the hesitation, “Just tell me.”

“He did not tell you because he cares about you.”

“What?”

“He knows it’s stupid to try and go after him and he was trying to stop you.”

“You think it’s stupid to go after him?”

“Aye,” Xyra answered quickly. 

Theo stood there silent. She appreciated the honesty but she did not like what was being said. They had never had an opportunity like this before. Lord Vaith’s movements were kept extremely secret and the times that his plans manage to surface, Theo and her crew were never anywhere near his route. It was either take this opportunity or wait for an indefinite amount of time until the next time it occurs. 

“This is a unique chance. We have never been this close before,” Theo reasoned. 

“39 women. Limited supplies. Cannonball stock is low.” Xyra countered.

“We have well-trained pirates. One of ours is worth five of them.”

“Most likely with three fully armed light-bringers escorting him. The most powerful military ships sailing the seas,” Xyra reminded. 

“It would be worth the try if it meant killing him”

“It would be suicide.” 

“Fuck!” Theo swallowed the lump in her throat and ran her fingers through her hair, “You’re right. I know you’re right. But he’s right there, how can I let him go?”

“By understanding that you would be saving 39 lives. You can let him go this time knowing you will get him when the moment is right. When you’ve built up your crew and your fleet and you are ready,” Xyra said calmly and brought Theo in close, wrapping her arms around the captain.

Theo returned the embrace, understanding that Xyra was stepping away from the role of first mate and being her friend. The conversation was over and they both knew it. There was something about their relationship that allowed many things to be left unsaid. They had a way of communicating without even opening their mouths. Theo knew that the issue was over, she needed to put her captain duty before her vendetta. Xyra knew that Theo was angered by having to let go and it was very unlike Theo to let go. The embrace they shared was an unspoken conversation that left Theo feeling calmer when she let go. 

“Do you need me to stay or need me to go?” Xyra asked hands-on Theo’s shoulder. 

“Go. I’m going to be okay, I just need to… process,” Theo said and put one of her hands over Xyra’s reassuringly. 

“Aye. I’ll leave my door unlocked tonight, in case you can’t sleep.” Xyra said and then walked out, closing the door behind her. 

Theo thought it was best to turn in for the rest of the night instead of staying up and worrying about what she would not be able to change. She undressed and changed into something more comfortable and less sweaty. She crawled into bed and stared at the wood above her, listening to the water crash against the boat. Her hopes of falling asleep were gone after the second hour passed and she was still awake. 

She slipped out of bed, deciding that a walk around the ship when it was this empty and quiet, would help. The second she stepped out of her room she saw a figure lying flat on the deck, looking up. She slowly made her way over, concerned. The figure looked over and Theo saw it was Ava. She let out a laugh and put a hand over her heart. 

“Thought you were dead or like a lunatic,” Theo said. 

Ava sat up, “None of those. Just unable to sleep.” 

“Ah, a dilemma we both currently face,” Theo sat down next to Ava, “What are you doing out here?”

“I had noticed the stars earlier and I just wanted to be able to look at them,” Ava explained. 

Theo laid back and looked up at the stars. They were beautiful. Theo sometimes forgot to admire the beauty that nature presented her every night. She laid in silence for a while, observing the stars. Ava stared at Theo for a bit, enjoying the up-close view of seeing Theo relax. Eventually, she laid down next to Theo and looked back up at the stars. 

After a while, Theo broke the silence, “Any reason you can’t sleep?” 

Ava smiled a little at the question. She and Theo hadn’t had much time recently to talk but Theo always made sure to check up on her. Ava could brush Theo off and say she was fine but her heart was tugging at her chest begging to spill its contents.

“I miss home,” Ava confessed. 

“I see,” Theo replied 

“Which is odd.” Ava continued.

“How so?”

“I ran away from home. I shouldn’t miss it.”

“Maybe you don’t miss home. You miss the security of it.”

Ava sat up and looked over at Theo. Theo, still laying down, turned her attention to Ava and raised a questioning eyebrow. Theo had put the words in her mouth. For the past few suns, Ava had been feeling this weight on her chest. Stress and homesickness and she could not figure out what was making her feel like that. 

“It’s like you reached into my mind and pulled out a cohesive thought from the mess in there,” Ava laughed, incredulously.

“Honestly?” Theo laughed too, “I had no clue. I was just spitballing,” 

“Well, you have hit the nail on the head,” Ava said.

“I really did nothing. Is that something you want to talk about though?”

“Not really. I don’t think there is anything to talk about. Just gotta figure out a way to get security and stability, I guess.” 

“Well, you know where I stand on helping you get on your feet. It also goes without saying that I and all the women on here are committed to making sure you’re okay so let us know if you need anything,” Theo said and placed a hand on Ava’s arm, trying to provide some comfort. 

“Thank you, I know.” Ava acknowledged, “What about you? Why couldn’t you sleep?” 

“I was foolish to think I could get out of this conversation without a line of questioning from you. Like the fucking army interrogators,” Theo joked. 

"Absolutely foolish of you to assume something so ludicrous. Now, what’s keeping you awake?” Ava pressed on.

Xyra’s words of advice telling Theo not to share too much bounced around in her head. She wanted to keep quiet but Ava had just been so open with her. Plus, something about Ava made her easy to talk to and maybe getting Theo’s feelings off her chest would help her sleep. Theo would just have to stick as close to the bare facts as possible. 

“One of my most trusted contacts didn’t give me information about a very important lead but either way we can’t pursue it and I can’t tell the crew either,” Theo explained, vaguely. 

“To a treasure?” Ava asked.

“No, to a person of interest.”

“Who?”

“I’m afraid that is pirate only information.” 

“Fair enough. What were you planning on doing if you could pursue the lead?” Ava decided she would prod some more even if nothing came of it.

“Ideally? Attack them and commandeer their fleet.” Theo admitted, there was no use in keeping hypothetical situations a secret. 

“Why do you want to attack this person? Are they valuable” Ava asked.

“It would cost more to attack than I would benefit from it. So no, it’s not a profit thing,” Theo divulged, twisting one of her rings anxiously, “It’s personal.”

A heavy and dense cloud came over the space between them and suddenly the air went heavy.  
“What do you mean by that?” Ava asked, hoping to not cross a line.

“They are the reason I am where I am now…” Theo admitted. 

Ava did not know what Theo meant or who she could be referring to. She looked lost in thought and Ava stared at the captain, not knowing what to say. It was all a bit cryptic, Ava thought, but if she were a pirate captain she wouldn’t trust a random person with important information either. Ava had enough of the silence.

“I’m sorry about it not working out,” Ava said, unable to think of anything else.

“No need to apologize. I’m going to try and sleep again. Thank you for sharing the stars with me, also could we keep this between us?” Theo said and got up. 

“Of course, my mouth is shut,” Ava said. 

Theo walked away and Ava was still sitting in the same spot. Theo did not want to go back to her quarters and sleep alone. She slipped inside the ship and made her way into Xyra’s cabin. She found Xyra sleeping, taking up only one side of her large bed. It was a force of habit. While they were growing up, if they ever did have access to a bed Xyra and Theo would share it. Theo smiled at the memory of them as kids and climbed into bed. 

Xyra had sensed Theo getting into bed and turned around, wrapping her long arm around Theo. Theo let out a sigh of relief at the warmth on her back, a familiar comfort. After a bit, Theo tapped on Xyra’s arm to let her know her gesture was acknowledged and Xyra turned back over. Xyra was not fond of affection and holding, Theo was. Xyra fell back to sleep and Theo eventually heard snoring. After a while, Theo also fell asleep. Dreams of the past and her family interrupted her sleep and by the morning Theo wished she would have never slept at all.


	10. Journey

Theo climbed the stairs and stood on the top deck, looking down at her crew. They were all gathered and waiting for her to start. Theo scanned the crowd and to make sure everyone had arrived. Xyra and Morgana were just emerging from the lower decks, escorting three women with them. Theo had sent them to make sure everyone was in attendance given the fact that the crew regularly tried to sleep through these assemblies. 

Xyra made her way up the stairs and stood next to Theo, “All set. Everyone’s here. Including your redheaded friend.” 

Xyra looked over to where Ava was and Theo’s eyes found her. Theo almost wanted to laugh, of course, Ava the Inquisitive would attend. She probably followed the crowd. 

“Good morning, pirates!” Theo began. “As you know, this morning we begin a long voyage to Takand. If the wind favors us and all goes well we should be there before the next cycle. I have a few announcements for us before we begin our journey.”  
Theo looked around, it was early and the pirates were tired. It was apparent not a lot of them were paying attention. After all, usually, these assemblies that Xyra calls are not very important and the women just want to get to sailing. Theo cleared her throat and spoke even louder. 

“Cooker came to me with an idea for how to better divide up the labor. We will be switching to a system of a full working sun and a full sun off. You and your switch partner will decide which person works tomorrow and which will work right now. We will do this for seven sets of the sun and then come together for a vote.”

The women’s interests were stirred. Whispers were exchanged between them about the new system and Theo waited for a few moments, letting them get the chatter out of their system, before moving on. 

“Second, Evana has decided to change her upcoming project. Due to many requests, she will now be making a training room. I will let her fill you in on the details as she is the expert on this,” Theo motioned over to Evana who was walking up the stairs. 

Once Evana arrived and the cheers the women had commenced had died down, she began to speak. Theo stepped back and stood next to Xyra who looked over.

“How did you sleep last night?” Xyra asked.

“Fine. Thanks for letting me sleep there,” Theo whispered back, looking ahead at the crowd. 

“Theo… You were having nightmares all night and were gone before I woke up,” Xyra said, stare fixed on Theo. 

“Now is not the time,” Theo said as sternly as she could while whispering. 

Xyra knew to drop the subject but she was worried. She knew that the news of Vaith was affecting Theo. It was even affecting her, she had been next to Theo for over 12 lengths and Theo’s enemies were her enemies. Having to let him go like that was eating away at her, she couldn’t begin to imagine the turmoil Theo was facing. Xyra also knew Theo well enough to know that the lead on Vaith coupled with the upcoming land raid would lead to unhealthy behavior. Staying up, lack of eating, fixating on the plans for the raid and ignoring her own needs and feelings. Xyra would do what she could to stop it but Theo was stubborn and reluctant to face her own emotions at times. This would be a conversation that Xyra had to push her into later. She reached down and took Theo’s hand and squeezed it before letting go. 

Evana finished speaking shortly after their exchange and Theo stepped forward, “Thank you Evana for the wonderful news. I need you all to pay attention to this next part because it is important. We have a lead on a small hidden island said to house the next camp for Baethian soldiers. They have stocked at least a length's worth of different items that we need.  
Right now it is empty. Nobody but a group of soldiers left to guard the supplies. But, like most good things, that is not the case for very long. Training starts very soon and we need to waste no time in getting there. We had originally planned for two nights in Takand but we will not be able to stay for more than a few hours.” 

The women’s mood shifted from excited to annoyed. An almost comical group groan was heard from the deck below and Theo lifted her hands as if to say she was sorry. Xyra stepped forward, willing to jump in with a lecture but Theo stopped her. 

“I know this is a sacrifice on your parts but remember, we are running low on supplies and this is the only way to get them. More and more ports are closing to our trade and we need a backup stock more than ever now. Plus, to make up for it, I will allow you to put to a vote the next place we visit. After the raid, we’ll go wherever you all choose. It will be put to a vote in seven suns time as well. I will be updating you all on plans as they are made. For now, take your positions and get ready to set sail.” 

Theo backed away from the railing and walked down the stairs and into her captain’s quarters. Xyra was quick on her heels and made it in before Theo could shut the door in her face. Theo walked around to her desk and pulled out a few papers from her drawer and held it out for Xyra to take. Xyra walked over and took the papers, “What are these?”

“This is what Norhan gave us on the lead. I need you to study this and get back to me on what we are up against. I’m going to work now, you can take tomorrow,” Theo said as she walked past Xyra, ready to go set sail. 

Xyra caught Theo by the arm, “Do not take whatever you are feeling out on me Theo. That isn’t fair. Talk to me instead.”

Theo’s face softened out of the scowl she had been sporting all morning but she still silently walked past Xyra and went outside. Theo knew Xyra was right and she felt bad for acting the way she had. The apology would come later but Theo was not in the mood for it right now. This secret she and Xyra were holding about the lead they had was a burden. Theo couldn’t tell the crew or she’d face a mutiny. They’d commandeer the boat and head straight into the suicide mission. Lord Vaith had become their enemy too, whether because he was a symbol of all that was unjust with the world or because of their own experience with him. 

Keeping secrets from her crew was hard. She would tell them eventually, but not until it was far too late to do anything about it. Each one of her pirates was braver than the last and they all believed themselves to be invincible but Lord Vaith was one of the most powerful men in all of Baethos and there was no way they would come out of that fight alive. It wasn’t only the secret souring her mood it was the fact that she couldn’t go after him. She was stuck and he had won again. She did not have enough to go after him, just as she never had before. She knew it was illogical but she felt she had failed. 

The rest of the morning passed in a blur. Theo was just standing at the helm, not doing much of anything. The wind was cooperating and her crew was trained and had the ship under control. She had been staring out at the ocean for far too long when she decided she would check in on everyone. She retreated into the ship and checked in with Evana first. Multiple women were working in her shop and Theo was all but pushed out. 

“Hello, Evana. How is it going?”

“Good. What is it you need?” 

“Nothing, just checking in.” 

“There are 5 women in a shop smaller than my room. Please, Captain.”

Theo got the hint and had walked away. She went down to storage and checked in with Miss Yurwa. She stayed for a while but she made up a lie to get out of it before Miss Yurwa could finish her long speech. There was only so much she could hear about how low they were getting on reserves and after this voyage, they were lower than they ever had before. When panic began to rise in Theo’s chest, she knew it was time to leave. Walking out of the room and into the thin hallways, she took a deep breath. 

This plan would work. She had faith in her crew and the information she had. She knew they’d be okay and sometimes Miss Yurwa knew just how to make a situation seem unsolvable. She reminded herself of these things as she walked away and back onto the deck. She decided it was time to check in on Tuni and Morgana, they would bring good news. Theo had hoped that the time away and a good time at home would make Morgana forget about any ill-feeling she had before she left. She walked into the infirmary and saw Tuni, Morgana, and Ava sitting around.

“So it's everyone’s sun off?” Theo teased and walked in taking a seat in one of the beds in there. 

“It is good to see you too, Theo,” Tuni smiled, “We were just about to tell Ava how our trip went.”  
Theo motioned for them to go ahead and Morgana looked at Ava as she began, “So first, we show up to their house and no one is home. I almost keeled over right there, thinking he went off into the mountains again. They ended up coming back soon after, they were picking fruit.”  
Ava laughed at the story and leaned in, genuinely interested in what Morgana had to say. With grand hand motions and a dramatic storytelling ability, Morgana was perfectly suited to recount their short adventure in Morgana’s home village. She had both Theo and Ava very entertained. She told the story of her reunion with her family, her father meeting Tuni, and all the new happenings in her town. Morgana seemed like she was glowing. She beamed when she told stories of her sister and how good she had been doing in school. 

“That one is a smart one,” she said, “Smarter than everyone in my family put together.”

Theo wanted to stay for longer, had an urge to keep the conversation going and distract herself from everything waiting outside. No luck, she had been in there long enough and it was time to go back and check on those that were sailing. She called up to the mast and checked up on her pirates on the crow’s nest and made her rounds around the deck. Once she was satisfied, she walked back into her quarters and found Xyra sitting on the floor with papers laid out in front of her. 

“Any progress?” Theo asked and stepped over the papers.  
She sat behind her desk and propped her feet up. 

“Aye, I’ve managed to get somewhat of an accurate assessment of the land. I’m still deciding on the best points of entry. As of what this intercepted report says, there should be no more than 30 men on the island assuming that none have died of disease already,” Xyra reported without looking up. 

Xyra continued to shuffle through the papers and organize them in a way that made sense only to Xyra. The guilt Theo had pushed away earlier over being rude to Xyra rose again. Xyra was tough and sometimes her showing that she cared was hard. Theo had shut her best friend out. 

“Xyra… I’m sorry for freezing you out,” Theo admitted. 

Xyra looked up from her papers and simply gave a nod, unsure of what to say.

“I am not ready to talk about it but when I am I will come to you,” Theo said. 

“Thank you,” Xyra replied with a reassuring smile and turned back to the papers. 

\-----------------

Supper was mediocre. They had gone onto rations for the remainder of the journey to make sure there was enough for all of them. Theo had eaten with the crew but left early to go find Ava who was missing from supper. Based on the pattern Theo had watched her establish, she was most likely in the library. Theo walked into the library, Ava was sitting with a book in her lap and a plate on the table in front of her. 

“Ava, hello,” Theo smiled as Ava whipped her head over to face Theo, “I was just about to invite you up to my quarters if you need company tonight. I’ll leave my door unlocked if the book gets boring.” 

A grin spread across Ava’s face, “Got it.”

Theo backed away slowly, watching Ava go back to reading her book. She turned away and went to her room. She threw herself onto her bed and let her whole body relax. It had been a long sun and she was stuck on her feet for most of it. She had been through way worse. Suns of nonstop work on the deck of a ship. She had known exhaustion and this was far from it. Mentally, it was a different story. All sun she had been battling with the guilt and the anger in her head. 

She got up from the bed and made her way to her dresser. Opening the drawer she picked out the most comfortable outfit she owned and changed into it. The door opened after she had managed to slip on all her items of clothing and she turned round to see Ava. 

“You came,” Theo stated and Ava laughed, closing the door. 

“Yes, I did. You’ve changed.”

“Aye.”

Theo walked over to her balcony and opened the door out. She stepped out and Ava followed. They both took a seat and Theo leaned her head back against the wood and took a deep breath, staring out into the ocean. 

“I’ve been out on the water for all of my life and it never gets less mesmerizing to just look out,” Theo said.

Ava followed Theo’s lead and stared out into the water. The sky was clear enough to see gorgeous stars littering the sky. Like the night before, Ava was speechless at the sight of them. Theo took her gaze off the horizon and looked over at Ava. She doesn’t know how long she was looking but Ava caught her. She laughed a little and Theo laughed back, unsure what of. 

“What about the library has you so interested in it?” Theo asked. 

“I was taught the history of each classification period. I had tests on it. Tutors on end teaching me about the politics behind it. The supposed history. But these books… they’re different. All of what I learned has been twisted. Or... or everything that is in these books is twisted and what I learned is right. Either way, the library has books and I’m going to read until I have answers.”

Theo laughed, “Or you could ask someone.” 

Ava shook her head, “Captain, I don’t think I can. I’m afraid they’ll shove me off the boat for being pro-government if I ask the wrong thing.” 

Ava was being a tad dramatic and she knew it but it was entertaining Theo. 

“Ask me, then” Theo suggested. 

“You’re being serious?” 

“Aye, you’re not the first confused high born we’ve had around here.” 

“Is it true? What I’ve been reading?” Ava asked.

Theo nodded her head, “Aye, I’m afraid so. The history of Baethos, especially early Baethos is not one of peace and equality.”

“That is not what we were taught,” Ava confessed. 

“I know. We’ve read the books you’ve read too. Understand the enemy, you know?” Theo mused.

That is where Ava was confused. Why were the rich hated? Her family had many philanthropic projects always running to help no namers. She did not understand. 

“Why are we-they the enemy?” Ava wanted to be conscious as to how she presented herself here. Not only for safety but also because she was unsure of where her loyalties even lied at that point. 

“People in the greater houses and those in the noble houses own a lot and don’t give back as much as they collect. That maybe would be fine if their nobility and wealth weren’t on the backs of the poor. Unfair taxes, inequality, the overstepping of the military… There is a lot,” Theo explained, “I’m no good at explaining these things very well though. Cooker is amazing at it and if you like to read you can ask her for a recommendation on the topic.”

“How did Cooker come to be on the crew?” Ava asked. She wanted to know more about her, but Cooker never offered up much about herself. 

“Cooker was the crew before there was one. It was just me and Xyra for a while before Cooker came along but once she did it we were inseparable. She’s been with us since almost the beginning,” Theo said, “Cooker is the smartest person I know.” 

Ava smiled. The way Theo talked about the people on this ship melted her heart. It was kinder and more heartfelt than anything her family had ever expressed in her entire life. This ship truly seemed like a family. Theo began to tell a story about one of the early suns on the ship they were trying to uncover a plot for something Ava did not quite understand. Apparently, Cooker had engineered a plan that fooled Baethean authorities by assuming the cover of an undercover agent and feeding them false information all while getting information from them to get leads. This worked for a while and helped them establish themselves as a pirate crew worthy of song.  
Theo, whose demeanor had been tense all night, finally loosened up. Telling stories was her favorite, a born entertainer Theo could entrance any audience. The more Theo told Ava, the more she wanted to get to know Cooker. She seemed like a fascinating individual. It had gotten a little too windy outside so both of them had made their way inside.

“So, moral of the story, Cooker has got you covered for any of your intellectual needs,” Theo finished with a chuckle.

“Thank you for all of the guidance,” Ava said, “Before I go, I wanted to ask if there was anything I could do? I know we are going to be at sea for many suns and I wanted to pull my weight.” 

“Aye, I have a job for you. Keep me sane?” Theo asked. 

“Excuse me?” Ava tilted her head.

“Come up at night and have these talks with me. Really makes the time fly and it’s fun to pick your brain,” Theo elaborated and Ava found herself smiling at the words. 

“I will take my job very seriously,” Ava joked, she was only half kidding though. 

“It’s settled then. Here, I'll walk you to your room.” Theo held her arm out and Ava took it. 

She was intending to go back into the library but the walk to her room was longer and she wanted as much time as she could with Theo. Ava couldn’t explain why she was so drawn to her. If only her friends back home would see her now, arms locked with a nox pirate. What would they say? Even more, what would they say if they knew Ava was enjoying her time with Theo. 

They said their goodbyes after Ava unlocked her door. Theo turned around and walked away but Ava never opened her door. She just watched as Theo walked down the hallway so she could make her escape back into the library without giving herself away. Except, Theo did not turn to go back to her room. Instead, she stopped right at the end of the hallway and knocked on someone’s door. 

Xyra opened up and let Theo in. Once Theo was gone, Ava began to walk down the hallway towards the library. That morning, Ava had seen Xyra and Theo hold hands during assembly. The night before, after she and Theo had been on the deck together Theo had gone into the ship and not come out. Is that where she went? Were Xyra and Theo together? 

Ava was curious now and she wanted to know but knew she would probably be crossing some boundaries if she asked around about it. It was probably something they kept under the radar if it was anything at all. Her curiosity made it so that she now had about 300 things on her ‘ask around or investigate this topic’ list. Admittedly, it was a problem. She walked by the room and slowed her pace, trying to catch any stray noise or phrase. 

Ava sped up soon after, guilt overtaking her for even considering to eavesdrop on someone that had been so hospitable. She made a beeline for the library and closed the door once she got there. She had originally been planning to read the history of the classifications. She was on the second of 17 volumes but there were a lot of things that went over her head. Certain phrases or schools of study she knew nothing about often came across the literature. She was going to take Theo’s advice and speak with Cooker about recommendations. Never one to leave something unfinished, Ava picked up the second volume of the classification series and set out to finish it, eventually falling asleep in the chair.

The next morning Ava woke up to shuffling in the library. She opened her eyes to see Cooker quietly making her way around the room, looking for a book. Ava lifted her head off the chair and a sharp pain shot down her neck. She groaned and brought a hand to rub her neck. Cooker looked over an awake Ava and laughed. 

“Can’t say I haven’t done that exact thing before. Several times,” Cooker commented and pulled a book out. 

She took the book she had chosen and found a chair in the library to sit in. Ava watched as Cooker dove into the book she had chosen without another word. Ava shifted in her seat trying to find relief for her neck and back. She looked down in her lap to find the book she was reading still open on the page she fell asleep on. She shrugged to herself and followed Cooker’s lead and began reading again. Cooker laughed from her spot in the library and when Ava looked over she was being watched.

“Yes?”

“Just picking up the book right where you left off. No breakfast or break or walk around the ship,” Cooker pointed out. 

Ava just shrugged and went back to reading the book. She wanted to ask for advice on books but she figured she would let Cooker get settled in before bombarding her with questions. She turned her attention back to her book and Cooker did the same with hers. As Ava flipped through the pages, she found herself thinking and not reading. Her eyes were scanning the words but her mind was not absorbing them. She rubbed her eyes and put the book down, maybe she did need a break before jumping back in. 

“Cooker?” Ava asked. 

“Hm?” Cooker responded, not looking up from the book. 

“Theo said that you could give me some recommendations on what to read,” Ava said and immediately Cooker looked up. 

“I am in love with that woman,” Cooker joked and stood up, “What were you looking for?” 

“I’m not sure how to say this… But I guess inequality? Or something about the history of upper houses,” Ava stumbled. 

“Ah, I see. Rich girl wants to understand the reason her status is more dangerous than helpful out here,” Cooker teased and began to roam the shelves. 

Cooker was right but there was more to it. Ava didn't just want to understand why being from an upper house made it so she was disliked. She wanted to understand the nature of the relationship between upper and lower houses. Understand why there was inequality and why it hadn’t been addressed yet. Ava explained this to Cooker while the librarian was searching through the books. 

Cooker worked in silence for a bit. After Ava’s remarks, she had put one of the books she had grabbed back and restarted her work. Ava was not expecting anything this serious. She had assumed Cooker would give her a title and Ava would look for it and that would be the end of the conversation. The opposite was true. Fifteen minutes later and Cooker still had not finalized her picks. Instead, she was climbing onto a chair to reach a higher spot. She pulled the book down and hopped off the chair. Grabbing the three books she had curated, she set it on the table that was in front of Ava. 

“Here,” Cooker pointed to the first book, “That first one is a history of the development of the upper houses over the classifications and how they came to develop the power they have. The second one, an analysis of how the house system has negatively impacted our societies. That last one is a history of the rebellions in Baethos since the first classification, the reasons for it, and how it ended.”

Ava reached forward and grabbed the books, smiling as she did. Her fingers traced over the titles of them and she had to remind herself she needed a break before she started these. 

“Thank you,” Ava said and she stood up with the books, “I am going to start on these as soon as I can.”

“You’re welcome. If you need to talk through the book you can come to me,” Cooker offered.  
“Thank you but I’m sure I’ll understand it,” Ava said, a little bothered that someone would think she needed help going through the books.  
Cooker laughed a bit, a soft smile on her face, “I just meant you can come to me to talk through the emotions that the book might bring up, not the content.” 

Ava wasn’t sure what Cooker meant by that but she said her thanks and walked out of the library. Now that the books were in her hands they felt like fire. She held here the beginning of the answers to her questions. The information in the books could lead her to think the way that the other pirates thought, was she ready for that? She had already run away but this felt like she was turning her back on where she came from. 

She wanted to clear her head from books and the library for a bit. She dropped her books off in her room then set out to find anyone that would want to train with her. 

\----------------

Theo had an uneventful sun. When she had woken up that morning in Xyra’s room, the last she wanted to do was spend her time doing nothing. Xyra had been still peacefully sleeping next to her so she decided to give Xyra a second sun off. It was not like Xyra took the time off, she had ended up locking herself up in Theo’s room going over the lead. Theo kept herself busy for most of the sun, helping those that were short-staffed and catching up with crew members she hadn’t sat down with for a while. 

Dinner was still going on when she made her way back to her room. Dinner was usually her favorite time of the sun. She got to sit around with her friends and be able to be in the same room enjoying the same meal with her crew. But when Theo’s mood was not at its usual peppiness it was noticeable and she did not want to drag the room down. When she arrived at her door, Ava was standing there with a few sheets of paper in hand. 

Theo smiled at Ava and unlocked her door, “You’re here.”

“I am.”

“What is that?” Theo asked as she opened the door. 

Ava held the papers up, “List of things we can talk about. I am taking my job to keep you sane very seriously.” 

Theo laughed and made herself comfortable. She took off her boots and sat in her bed. Ava stood awkwardly in the middle of the room looking around for the best place to sit. 

“Don’t be shy. You and this bed are familiar, if I recall,” Theo patted the bed and Ava rolled her eyes. 

Ava walked toward the bed and found a suitable place for herself. Theo’s bed was massive. She wondered how they even managed to get it inside. Ava was a good distance away from Theo even though they were on the same piece of furniture. 

“Alright, what’s on the list? I’m intrigued,” Theo asked.

Ava held out the papers, “You can look through it. I’ve organized them in different sections. Questions about you. Questions about the ship. Questions that I have questions about. 

Theo laughed at the last comment, waving her hand to indicate she had no intention of taking the papers, “Sounds interesting. How about you pick something from that last section.” 

Ava nodded and flipped through the pages. She had spent a few hours at the library earlier in the aftermorning writing all of these things down. She had convinced herself that she was doing this so she could get some questions answered and have a way to organize her thoughts. She had argued that even though Theo’s tone was joking, she had been serious about needing a distraction and Ava was going to provide that for her. The reality had been that she was putting off starting the book recommendations that Cooker gave her, unable to bring herself to open that box of mystery. 

“Okay,” Ava said, finally finding a topic she wanted to talk about, “How about Dove Island?”

“What about it?”

“Everything. I went into The Twins blind and I want to be equipped,” Ava clarified. 

“That is broad but, uh, I guess we can start on the things that will probably be the most relevant. You need to be 15 to find a place that will let you stay in exchange for money. Usually, places you’d want to look at are the houses that rent out rooms to other women, those are the cheapest and the safest. Uh, jobs are easy to come by in the beauty sector, janitorial duties, secretarial work for large companies. They don’t pay much but it’s better than most places,” Theo explained. 

She then talked about the social climate there. It was a place filled with many young women that came from all over. Young men flocked there too. Dove Island was emerging as one of the newest centers for innovation and science. The Efritian golden age was coming to an end and Dove Island was rapidly becoming a hot spot for social climbing. 

Theo explained to Ava the demographics of the Island, the south was mostly lower houses and no-namers. Young people living in giant houses and splitting costs equally. Groups of them trying to establish the next thing that would bring in the most money. The north reflected more of the historical Dove Island. Theo warned that the North was not the best place to be and if she could avoid it, to not go near there. It was a stark opposite of the progressive south. The nobles there instituted harsh rules on marriage, a woman’s role, religious freedoms, and language. 

“Would you live there?” Ava asked when Theo was finished. 

“I would never give up my life at sea. I will die out here,” Theo said quickly. It wasn’t a helpful answer but it was true. 

“Say all the water dried up and you had to, I mean had to, find a place on land to live. Where would it be?” Ava asked.

“I would live where I was born. But if that wasn’t available then yeah, Southern Dove Island is where I would settle down,” Theo gave in. 

“Where were you born?” 

“Not the topic we are talking about. Dove Island, you thinking about it?” Theo avoided the question. 

Ava was very entertaining to talk to, insightful at times, funny, very talkative. But Theo was not going to answer personal questions. She had admittedly gotten a little too close to Ava in a short period and there had to be somewhere that the line was drawn. What started as a question as to where she was from had the opportunity to turn into something much deeper and Ava was dangerous. For some reason she made Theo relax and want to open up. 

Ava shrugged her shoulders at Theo’s question, “I guess I am. I mean, if this is the best place to be then I guess I am thinking about it.” 

“If you decide that Dove Island isn’t for you then you can continue to sail with us until we reach somewhere else,” Theo said. She had offered the ship up to Ava for as long as she wanted many times before but she wanted to make sure that Ava knew. 

“What about if I wanted to become a pirate?” Ava asked. Her question was asked slowly in a way where Ava could gauge Theo’s reaction. 

Theo’s reaction was biting her lip and staying silent. Ava couldn’t read what was going on in Theo’s head but it didn’t look promising. 

“Being a pirate isn’t easy… There are a lot of sacrifices to be made and sometimes the money isn’t good. If you're arrested on piracy charges, it's life in prison with a nice judge. There is more of a chance of being on the end of a noose or a sword than there is to live past 30. Ava, it’s serious,” Theo reasoned, trying to steer Ava away from that road. 

“Would I be able to become one though?” Ava pressed on. 

Theo rubbed her face and shook her head, “Ava, it’s not for you.” 

“Because I come from a rich family?” 

“Ava-” 

“Are you saying it's not for me because of where I come from?” 

“I am saying it’s not right for you because I have seen more high borns be killed trying to chase their dreams of being a pirate than actually succeed,” Theo admitted. 

It was a heavy conversation to have and she could tell that Ava was not thrilled with her answer. Theo was telling Ava the truth, though. Upper house people did not usually make it on the run. They either died or went back to their families. There were exceptions, of course, but the older the high born the less likely they were to adapt. It was a difficult life as a pirate, lack of showers, rationing, risking one’s life every other sun, having to rely on the sea which bends to no one’s will. 

It also hurt Theo to say because, in the cycle that Ava had been on the ship, Theo had gotten attached to her as a friend. It was probably unwise but at least it wasn’t clouding her judgment and she could be clear with Ava. 

Ava got up off the bed, “I think I’m going to go to my room now.” 

“Ava, I’m sorry,” Theo said, getting up too. 

“There is nothing to apologize for, Captain. I asked a question and I got an answer. It’s just late so I’m going to head back,” Ava said. 

It wasn’t her right to be angry at Theo or get an apology from her but she couldn’t stop the pettiness from coming through in her tone. It was just a question and something Ava had not even really considered. She was fine, she just needed a little time to get over it. She walked back to her room and picked up the first book that Cooker recommended to her. 

Procrastination was over. She was going to read the books. Most high borns didn’t survive because they didn’t learn how to, Ava thought. Theo thought her unable to survive as a pirate simply because of her status and she was going to prove Theo wrong. Whether she settled down or became a pirate, Ava wanted to be able to survive and the best way she thought of doing that was understanding the world she was going to be living in. 


	11. Decisions

They had been at sea for a total of 13 suns when it was announced that they were going to make landfall within a few suns. Ava had established a pattern during that time. She would hang out in the library and read for until night began. Sometimes Cooker would be there and they would talk about Ava’s thoughts on the books. She now understood what Cooker meant by needing to speak with someone about them. It was a shock to her. The corruption, poor quality of life, and corrosion of society the house system had caused. Philanthropic projects were fronts to gain more points during classifications. Housemaids were fired right before a new classification and new ones were hired and given money to make it seem that their employers were good people.

This was what her family had participated in for centuries. It was what she had participated in. Laughing at those with less than them but those that had less were never allowed to reach for more. It was a system where those that were on the bottom would never win and advance. She could remember the remnants of food every night that they would have on their dinner table and it would be thrown away. It wasn’t given to those that were hungry because the food was theirs. They did not earn those meals she could hear her mother saying.  
When she would speak to Cooker about these things, Cooker didn’t try to sway her to have a certain opinion. They just openly spoke about the themes in the book and what they each thought of them. Cooker helped Ava fully think about concepts and form opinions on them without making her follow her way of thinking. Her time with Cooker quickly became one of her favorite things about the ship and when their conversations would end, she would anxiously wait for the next one. 

One morning, once Ava had finished the second book she closed it and asked Cooker, “How were they able to keep all of this? How far deep does this go, like how many people are in the loop and how many are not?”

“I wondered about that for lengths, y’know? It ate me up inside. Did my parents know? Did their parents know? Did my siblings? I think I’ve concluded that the heads of the families are the ones that are aware,” Cooker stated. 

“So you’re saying if there is a family of 300 Renikers that only the head of the family knows about the actual history of Baethos?” 

“The head and a few other close members. Think about it, the heads of the Great Families and the head of the corresponding noble house must meet to decide how everything is done within their region. That includes education,” Cooker began. 

“And when only they are in charge of the education of every single resident of their region, they can distribute whatever books and knowledge they want that fits their narrative,” Ava finished for Cooker.  
Cooker snapped her fingers, “Exactly! Even further, since upper houses would rather be caught dead than mingling and talking politics with lower houses, they never find out the actual truth of the matter.”

“When you’re there and you have no worries and everything is provided to you, you don't question it. What you learn is believable…” 

“And that is why no one knows. And they can continue to publish and distribute books that hide what they truly are.” Cooker finished. 

Conversations like that were commonplace throughout the journey. Sometimes, Ava analyzed the text differently than Cooker and they would debate on what they thought something meant. Cooker was constantly challenging Ava and she liked it. Throughout the time they spent together, Ava managed to pry about a few things in Cooker’s personal life. However, she didn’t get very much information before Cooker would wall up. 

“If greater houses used half the money they spend on galas and balls, on rebuilding their communities, people would be able to start digging themselves out of poverty!” Cooker shouted she had been pacing the library in a particularly passionate discussion on the distribution of wealth of upper houses. 

“Cooker? How do you know so much about upper houses? It seems like more than just book knowledge,” Ava pointed out, “Too passionate about it for it to not have affected you personally.”  
“Ava, you’re a witch. A scary intuitive witch. They ought to burn you at the stake,” Cooker commented.

Ava shrugged with a smirk on her face, “I am smart. A smart witch. Now answer or I tell Theo this is your second sun off and you’ve been hiding out here.”

“Fine!” Cooker laughed, “I was born to a greater house.”

“Where?” Ava asked. 

“I’m going to turn myself in. The third degree isn’t worth it.” 

Cooker wasn’t the only one that Ava had gotten closer to. During the trip, Oceane and Morgana had continued to train her. There were not many new things that Ava learned, they worked mostly on improving her strength, speed, and reaction time. They wanted to make sure she could anticipate a situation and react to it to defend herself. Oceane had even spent one of her suns off teaching Ava about different weapons and the stories behind the ones in the armory. 

She often found herself having lunch with Tuni and whichever girl was training her that aftermorning. Sometimes it was Tuni and Morgan and other times Oceane replaced Morgana. Either way, lunch was a lighthearted time for them to fool around and have fun. Tuni had endless stories and Oceane, like Ava, enjoyed to listen rather than talk. About halfway through the journey, even she and Xyra had a civil and friendly conversation. Ava’s highlight of the journey was attending their voting night. After casting their votes, the pirates sang and drank and celebrated a successful referendum. All of the pirates voted in favor of keeping the sun on sun off schedule and to everyone’s surprise not a single location had a majority. That part of the vote was rescheduled for after the raid. 

As for Theo, neither of them really brought it up again for most of the trip. Ava still showed up every night and they still spent some hours of every night speaking. Ava steered the conversations away from heavy topics and Theo was all the more glad to follow. Some nights, others from the crew joined them and other nights it was just them alone. By the time they were due to make landfall, she and Theo had practically forgotten about the tenseness from before.  
But Ava hadn’t forgotten about becoming a pirate. The longer she thought about it the more it made sense to her. Every night she wanted to bring it up again but she couldn't. Her words were stuck in her throat. Her mind was working constantly and it would keep her up at night. She would construct her case if the topic was brought up again, she was capable of becoming a pirate. She read in hopes to rid herself of some of her naivety. She was prepared to show that she understood things would be hard and she was willing to put in work. 

One of the nights together with Theo she had gotten so close to bringing up piracy again. They were on the balcony and Theo had a pipe filled with something or other she had gotten from Morgana. The conversation that night had been light and comical, they had been exchanging different jokes they used to tell as children. It had quieted down as they both stared at the moon when Theo changed the track of the conversation. 

“Why did you run away?” Theo asked and looked over at Ava. 

Ava was honestly shocked she hadn’t gotten that question before. She assumed Theo wanted to let her maintain her privacy but when Theo was intoxicated it was obvious her filter did not work. Ava didn’t have an answer. She didn’t have an answer because she couldn’t find the words to describe it. After a while of not answering, Theo got the hint and turned back to look at the stars, opting to not pressure Ava. 

“I was unhappy,” Ava finally spoke up, “my family treated me as if I was not a part of it. I knew something was wrong, that I didn’t belong. Most of my life has been spent in boredom and isolation. Like, I had been looking out into a muted world with only black and white. When I left, I could breathe for the first time. I saw color.”

“Woah,” Theo said stupidly, too high to think of anything else to say. 

“Yeah…” Ava replied. She cursed herself for sharing yet another deep and personal thing about herself with Theo. Damn her sweet demeanor and the way she made everything feel safe and open. 

“What was the plan? Like, your end goal?”

“Honestly, I had nothing in my head except to get off the continent. I wanted to get off Elox. Not the smartest thing but, hey, I survived,” Ava admitted and laughed a bit. 

“What would you say your goal would be now?” Theo asked.

“I don’t know… I want to learn new things, travel new places, meet new people. I want to see the world I missed out on for 17 lengths... “ Ava confessed and crossed her arms. 

Become a pirate. Experience adventure. Seek thrills. 

Ava didn’t dare bring it up but she wanted to. She wanted to tell Theo that she was strong and smart and adaptable and needed to be given a chance to be a pirate. But the thought of rejection again stopped her from saying anything. For 13 nights she spoke with Theo, laughed with her, drank with her and not once did she bring up the conversation from that night.  
\-----------------

Theo’s time at sea was spent captaining most of the time. Instead of splitting duties with Xyra and giving herself time off, Theo chose to work most suns only taking off the times if Xyra needed her help planning for the raid. She had retreated from practically everyone on the ship except for Xyra and Ava. She felt guilty being around her crew while keeping a secret as big as the one she was keeping. Not telling the crew about Lord Vaith was clawing at her soul and she could do nothing else but keep busy to ignore it. The crew seemed to think nothing of it as it was commonplace for Theo to retreat and plan when there was a big raid looming. 

Most suns, Theo woke up early and worked straight until dinner time, sometimes around the ship and sometimes on attack plans. She would break bread with her crew for dinner, finish her meal, and retreat into her room where Ava was usually waiting for her. Her time with Ava served as an escape. Being around someone that had no involvement with the crew, with Vaith, and had no expectations of her as a captain was freeing. Once Ava would leave, Xyra would come by to work some more and sleepover. It quickly became a habit between them and Theo soon found it hard to sleep without Xyra there. 

On the night that Ava brought up being a pirate, Theo felt bad shutting her down outright like that. She didn’t explain the process to Ava or allow her to explain her reasons but Theo had made that mistake too many times. People like Ava were often killed before even fully becoming a pirate. They had even gotten boarded and captured one time because they were unknowingly transporting a very important noblewoman who had become a pirate under Theo. People from Ava’s status were too much of a liability. 

It still didn’t stop nagging at her every time they were together. Theo was torn between wanting to apologize again for what she insinuated but also feeling like she did not need to apologize as the captain of the ship. She tried to bring it up again one night by asking Ava about her plans but she choked. Couldn’t go through with bringing it up again and going back on her word, her ego got in the way. Truth was, Theo knew there was something different in Ava. Something worth gambling on. 

Thus Theo’s time at sea was spent either stressing about a raid, a secret, or a certain red-headed passenger. By the time Navi had announced they were only about a sun away from shore at Takand, Theo was ready to get back on land as soon as she could. Hours ahead of landing Theo figured it was time to finalize the voyage and battle plans. She called a meeting in her quarters early in the morning. 

Theo was in a robe with breakfast on her desk while those called to the meeting began to file in.  
Morgana strutted in then found her place laying across Theo’s bed, “The Captain’s Council of the Inner Circle, it has been so long since we’ve had one of these.”

“Shut up, I’ve told you not to call it that,” Theo said and took a bite of her toast. 

“Oi! Hey! How is that fair? We haven’t gotten bread since our first sun at sea,” Morgana sat up in Theo’s bed. 

“I am the captain of this ship if you need any reminding. If I want toast I get toast,” Theo said with a mouth full. 

“If you replaced all your equality policies and gave us all equal amounts of bread instead, I would be happy. I’m serious. Take away our voice, our votes, our ability to have cabins and just give us bread,” Morgana pleaded and Theo grabbed one of her pieces of toast and threw it at Morgana. 

Cooker walked in and found a place next to Morgana, “Ah Morgana, may I take a seat next to you at this very first Captain’s Council of the Inner Circle meeting of the length.”

“What is it with you people? The name doesn’t even make any sense,” Theo threw her hands up. 

“It does. This is your council made up of your inner circle,” Xyra chimed in from her chair in the corner.

“I will decapitate all of you. All of you,” Theo threatened and went back to eating her food.  
The others quieted down and made no more comments about any sort of council. Once Theo was done with her food, everyone she needed was there. Navi, Oceane, Iona, Pearl, Morgana, Tuni, Cooker and Xyra. The girls like to call themselves the Inner Circle and as much as Theo rolled her eyes at stark divisions within her crew, it was true. These were her officers, the ones the ship could not function without. 

“Listen, we need this plan to go flawlessly so if you have any suggestions or concerns you need to speak up,” Theo said before she began, “The island has anywhere from 15 to 30 people stationed to protect it. It has swords, cannons, cannonballs, non-perishable food items, blankets, clothes, materials. This island has enough to sustain a group of 100 soldiers for 10 cycles. It’s a camp that is just lying in wait for us to grab it.” 

The women all paid close attention to what she was saying. Xyra stood up from her chair and set out a map on the table and all of them got up and crowded around the table.

“Xyra pinpointed the best point of entry. Their camp is set up along the southern beach on the island. We can’t sail that way or they’ll see us so our best bet would be to sail to the north of the island and drop off the vanguard there. Morgana, you’ll be taking your usual fighters but you’re going to need as many people as you can. If they can fight they go with you. Tuni, you’ll follow the vanguard but fall back so you’re out of the fight,” Theo pointed to a spot on the map far enough to ensure Tuni would be out of the fight. 

“Theo will be going with the vanguard this time. I will be taking command of the ship. Navi and I will sail it around the Island and take out their vessel. We can’t risk someone getting back to their ship and sailing away. After, we’ll sail it as close to the beach as we can,” Xyra jumped in to explain. 

“Aye. Oceane, I’m pulling you from the vanguard and putting you on the ship with Xyra. We need you to fill in as Master Gunner. Then, once you’ve gotten to the beach, you are in charge of the merchandise effort. We need to get those items from the camp and to our ship as quickly as possible.” Theo explained. Oceane didn’t look happy but she didn’t complain. 

The girls who had come into the fold after Theo became captain were less likely to speak up against Theo than the ones who had been there since the beginning. Theo and Xyra went through the rest of the plan in detail, giving each of the people in the room a responsibility. 

“This all seems straightforward enough, you have been cooped up in here for suns over this?” Morgana asked. 

“If only,” Xyra sighed, “None of this information is a given. It could all be wrong. All of this we are going off of belongs to one informant so it’s not exactly reliable.” 

“So it could be a trap. The sudden window of opportunity is suspicious” Cooker stated.  
“Yes but let’s not jump to conclusions. The island is empty right now because of an uprising in Efriti. The ship that was bringing the trainees to the island is occupied in battle right now so that is how we have this window. Problem is that this window is quickly closing and anything could have happened between Norhan getting this information and now,” Theo explained. 

The risk was high but the women knew they had no other choice. Turning back to the Twins or Elox wouldn’t be wise. There were no more jobs in that region because the shipping lanes were closed for the season. Instead, Eloxian patrol ships were littered around both continents. The only way was to keep traveling North of Dove Island where Efritian ports were more friendly to commerce and the shipping lanes were active and ready to loot. 

“It doesn’t stop there,” Theo admitted, “When we dock in Takand the most we can stock up on is eight suns worth of food.” 

“Where does that number come from?” Tuni asked. 

“Our past visits to Takand. I’ve made a calculation of the maximum amount of supplies each store will allow us to buy and for a crew of 40 we can buy them all out of eight suns worth of things,” Xyra provided.

“And this island is how far away from Takand?” Iona asked. 

“Seven suns,” Xyra said. 

“Captain, that is fucking insane,” Morgana interjected and the women began to talk amongst themselves. 

“It’s the only solution,” Theo said sternly, “It is not ideal but we cannot fail.” 

“Then I guess we need to go through worst-case scenarios,” Tuni said and found a chair to sit in, “It’s going to be a long sun.”

\-------------------------------------------------------

Ava had been in the library all morning. She had finally finished the last book but Cooker was nowhere to be found. Neither was Tuni or Morgana. Even Oceane was missing. She had found out, eventually, that a lot of Theo’s closest crew were in a meeting about the upcoming raid. Ava saw none of the people she had grown close to all sun, they had been holed up in the room for countless hours. It saddened Ava a little bit, not being able to see anyone she had grown to care for on her last sun on the ship. Tomorrow she was landing in Dove Island and she had not brought up wanting to stay on the ship with Theo yet. 

Around mid aftermorning, Ava began to panic as she realized she had made a total of zero preparations for the incoming landing in Dove Island. She had been so engrossed in reading and finding a way to talk to Theo about staying that she hadn’t considered what would happen if she did disembark in Takand. Ava went back to her room and began to write a list of what she needed to do, it was the only way she could think of getting organized. 

At the end of her list, she came up with things she needed to figure out. Getting some extra money before leaving the ship, finding a house to stay in with other girls, finding a job, saving up to get into a school there. Theo had said that they had started to accept girls and that some jobs gave you extra money to go to school. If that was the case, that was her plan for Dove Island. She was going to get a real education and learn to live on her own. Once she was satisfied with her tidy list, she went down to storage where Miss Yurwa was. 

“Good Aftermorning,” Ava said, a slight shake to her voice. Miss Yurwa scared her.

There was no answer. Miss Yurwa just kept tending to something out of Ava’s eyesight. 

“Theo had said that if I needed any money before I left that you would be able to provide some for me? I’m not sure what the process is like.” Ava tried again. 

There was still no response. Miss Yurwa went to go sit at her desk. She opened a book and began to write in it. 

“I really am sorry to bother but I think I need to disembark tomorrow and we won’t be staying long there so I just wanted to get this and be out of everyone’s hair,” Ava said, a little bit frustrated. 

Miss Yurwa closed her large book and grabbed a sack from next to her. She walked over to Ava and handed it to her, “Enjoy it. Spend wisely.” 

The sack felt heavy in her hands and there seemed to be a sizable amount in there. She would have to double-check with Theo if she saw her before leaving, the amount she had in her hands seemed like too much. The first step in her plan to settle was complete, the rest would have to wait until she was on land. She went back to her room and hid the sack away in her purse and stashed it under her bed. 

\----------------------

It was well after dinnertime by the time the “Inner Circle” had emerged from Theo’s quarters. They had been at it for more hours than they could remember. Theo’s voice was about to give and she knew she wasn’t alone in it. They had come up with a backup plan after backup plan and sometimes the planning got heated. Morgana and Cooker had a lot to say to each other and to Theo. It was mainly them three going back and forth about strategy with little input from the others. It was usually how these meetings went.

Navi and Xyra were the ones with the most information to share and only chimed in to shoot down an idea they could prove wouldn’t work with facts. Tuni mostly stayed around to be a level head and cool down tensions if they got too high. Iona, Pearl, and Oceane gave valuable input but only spoke up when it was necessary. Morgana and Cooker on the other hand never stopped speaking, they never stopped questioning every one of Theo’s suggestions or making sure she had thought of every possible solution. 

To others, it could have been seen as undermining or insubordination but to Theo, it wasn’t that; they were pushing her to be the best Captain she could be. Every question they asked forced Theo to find a solution. Every critic they made exposed a flaw in the plan. The end result was a massive headache and a foolproof plan. By the end it was just the three of them standing up, pointing fingers and arguing as the room was collectively napping in their chairs. 

Once they were out on the deck Xyra whistled loudly, “Listen up! In an hour there will be an assembly. No one is to miss it!” 

The crew that was on the deck shouted out various phrases to indicate the message had been received. Xyra went inside the decks to alert the others. By the time she had informed everyone and rounded up those she knew would try and skip it was time. Xyra made her way up the stairs and took her place next to Theo. Theo looked over at her and laughed a little. 

“I swear my voice is going to stop working in the middle of this thing,” Theo admitted.  
Xyra laughed, “If you go mute I will step in.” 

Theo turned around and addressed the crowd “Tomorrow as you know, we land in Takand. We can only be there for a few hours to stock up on supply. If you aren't on board by the time you leave you are staying in Dove Island. I know some of you that we’ve had to turn around for in the past but we won’t this time, so don’t fuck around.”

A laugh erupted from the audience as different pirates pointed at each other betting their mate would be the one to be left behind. Theo laughed with them then quieted everyone down and continued. She talked about their plan and told the crew of everyone’s assigned duties. She took them through the alternate plans they had in place. Xyra did need to step in at one point because Theo felt like her throat was going to break. She climbed down the stairs and grabbed someone’s drink before returning. She finished the drink then continued to speak. 

“That is the plan once we get there…” Theo said, “But to get there we will be sailing for 7 suns. We will have 8 suns of rations once we leave Takand so I need everyone to realize that stakes we are up against. My room is open all night if you have something to say or ask.” Theo finished and waved off the crowd and made her way back inside her quarters. 

The women started to pile into her room with questions and comments. Many of the inquiries she got were why a certain person wasn't put in a certain position. By the time no one was left it was almost a new sun. Theo was exhausted and she could feel herself falling asleep in her chair until she heard a knock on her door. 

“Time for one more visitor?” Ava asked as she stood in the doorway. 

“Of course. Come on in. I’m sorry I haven’t been around tonight,” Theo said sitting up. 

“Captainly duties, I understand,” Ava said and walked in taking a seat in front of Theo’s desk.  
They both spoke up at the same time then laughed. Ava motioned to Theo and Theo cleared her throat, “I am sorry that I shut you down so quickly when you asked about becoming a pirate. I should have given you a chance to answer your questions.” 

“Apology accepted this time… Does that mean I can ask questions?” Ava tried. 

“Aye, Ava the Inquisitive.” 

“How do you become a pirate?” Ava asked. 

“I’ve told you before. Depends on the crew. For us, you find a job on the ship, get tested on a certain thing, get voted in after 6 cycles of training, and officially become a pirate once you get anointed at Corinspe,” Theo explained as if it were simple. 

“Corinspe?”

“Secret pirate haven. No big deal,” Theo laughed. 

“Is that all you have to do?”

“Well, yes. You have to give up your room and live in the lower decks and if you don’t find a job that contributes then you can’t stay. Also, you have to agree to our code before becoming anointed. But that is all there is to join this crew,” Theo expanded on the topic, “Oh also, as a trainee you only get half a share in any treasure found.” 

“Thank you for answering my questions,” Ava said with a genuine smile on her face. 

“That is all? You’re kidding me. The great Ava has no more questions left,” Theo poked fun. 

“Alright. I get it. I’m nosy,” Ava held her hands up and then stood up, “I’m going to retire to my room for the night though. You look tired and I certainly am.”

“Will I see you again tomorrow?” Theo asked.

Ava nodded, “I promise to say goodbye.”

Theo smiled and watched as Ava left. She stood up before Ava closed the door and called her back. Ava stopped and turned around. 

“You would be a welcome addition to the crew, Ava.” 

\----------------------

Ava sat awake in her bed the entire night. She knew because she had left her window open and she was awake to watch the sun begin to rise. She was up all night trying to make a decision. Well, more so trying to talk herself out of one particular decision. She had two lists in front of her. One with positive aspects of both of her options and negative aspects of both of her options. Dove Island was safe. It was her best bet in terms of finding a stable job, a safe place to stay and possibly even make a name for herself. On the Scorned Woman she had found friends already, she felt safe, but it was also riskier. Theo said it herself, she was more likely to die than to survive. 

But still, all that was in her head was the prospect of being a pirate. It was always going to be the choice for her. She hadn’t even thought about settling down anywhere until the night before. This was her choice, it had been from the start. It was what she had been working towards this whole journey, she didn’t need to get off on Dove Island to know. She sat up in bed and grabbed her purse and ran down to the storage with it. She pulled out the sack and left it on the empty desk for Miss Yurwa before running back on the deck. 

Looking around she saw the port city in the distance, birds flying overhead. It was sunny outside and most of the crew was out on the deck already. She couldn’t find Theo so she decided she was going to see if she was in her room. She confidently marched to Theo’s room and tried the handle. The door was unlocked so she swung it open. 

“Theo. I’m not getting down. I want to be a pirate!” Ava exclaimed. 

Staring back at her were four faces and none of them were Theo. 

“Well that is embarrassing,” Xyra said from her spot behind Theo’s desk, “But hey, welcome to the crew.” 

“Welcome to the crew!” Morgana and Cooker shouted in unison and rushed towards Ava. 

Tuni hopped up and ran towards the door, “I’m going to get Theo! She needs to hear this!" Tuni brought herself to a stop and turned around to Ava who was being hugged by Morgana. “Welcome to the crew, Red,” Tuni said gleefully before turning around and resuming her mission.


	12. Preparations

Theo had returned from her trip on land with a rush of information. She had been in Takand since the early morning solidifying orders, making sure stores knew where to send the items and doing a bit of shopping of her own. The second she stepped back on the boat Morgana and Cooker were waiting for her to tell her the big news, Ava had decided she was going to be a pirate. Theo’s first reaction to the news was a mix of dread and relief. She wanted Ava on her crew; someone smart, quick at learning new things, and apparently knew her way around a dagger. But she kept going over the fact that Ava was a rich girl and she had seen how that story ended a hundred times. Theo would not forgive herself if something awful happened to Ava under her command. 

Regardless of her feelings, she was going to give Ava a fair chance and judge her competency without bias. She dismissed Cooker and Morgana and sent them off to go find Ava and tell her Theo was ready to meet. She cleared everyone out of her room once she arrived and settled in her chair, awaiting Ava. Ava walked in with a large grin on her face and she sat down in front of Theo’s desk.

“I want to be a pirate,” Ava cut to the chase.

“So I’ve heard,” Theo laughed, “I’m not trying to talk you out of it but I am going to go over just a few details and give you time to make a final decision.”

“That’s fine. I’m sure I won’t change my mind.”

“Right, well, obviously you’re going to have to move out of your room and into the lower decks. You can grab any free hammock. Usually, we would get started on the whole process right away but these next seven suns will be quite busy for all of us here so your training will have to go on pause. If we are successful during our raid then we’ll start you off with the process. We’ll find you a job on the ship and move you around until you find something that fits. During that, you’ll be vetted by Xyra and me just to make sure there is nothing odd going on and then we just hope that you excel at your job and get voted in,” Theo said.

“Vetted?” Ava asked, trying to mask her nervousness.

“Aye, just a sit down with me and Xyra. Sort some stuff out with your past. Make sure nothing is going to come back and bite us in the ass,” Theo explained.

“Alright,” Ava forced a smile, “That seems easy enough.”

“That isn’t the part I’m worried about. Ava, we are about to go on a mission that we might not come back from. We could get raided, fail at the mission, starve at sea… You have a chance to walk away from all of that uncertainty and settle down,” Theo tried reasoning with Ava one last time.

“I lived my entire life caged up because I was afraid of the uncertainty. I am taking risks and it starts with this. I have been on this boat long enough to have confidence that we are not sailing to our deaths,” Ava stated.

That makes one of us Theo thought.

She stood up and extended a hand to Ava. Ava stood up and shook it as firmly as she could manage.

“Welcome to the crew, for now, Ava Ableworth,” Theo smiled and let go of her hand.

Ava excused herself from the room shortly after and went to her room. She packed what little she had in the bag she had brought with her and went to give up her key. It was easy to find Morgana on the deck, she was shouting at someone in the crow’s nest. Ava turned in her key to Morgana and made her way to her new home. The lower decks were less than ideal compared to her cabin. It smelled of people and looked lived in. She saw a few familiar faces among those in their hammocks and she maneuvered around the room finding a space. She found an empty hammock near the wall and she climbed inside. It was more comfortable than she was expecting and the exhaustion she had faced from staying awake the whole night took over her body. She fell asleep, oblivious to the noise and commotion above her as the ship started moving.

\-----------------------------------

Xyra walked into the Captain’s quarter after they had set sail. She came in and laid across Theo’s bed.

“We’ve picked up anchor and we are on our way to the island,” Xyra said, “No thank you is needed.”

Theo laughed at Xyra and decided to indeed opt-out of giving her any gratitude, “Did you hear about Ava?”

“Oh yes, she very enthusiastically told me this morning. Barged in here thinking it was you and blurted out to everyone that she was going to be a pirate,” Xyra retold the story with an amused tone.

“And you’ve had nothing to say about it? Two cycles ago you were ready to push her off the fucking plank and now you’re laughing,” Theo pointed out.

“I’m laughing because it’s a funny story,” Xyra said and kicked her shoes off and Theo had to keep from laughing.

“It is but that is beside the point. What’s your opinion on it?” Theo asked. She was going to get an answer somehow. Xyra was her first mate who had a lot to say just a short while ago.

“The girls seem to like her, for some reason and she looks to be self-sufficient,” Xyra shrugged, “If you’re trying to get me to be the bad guy in this I won’t be. I think she actually would make a good addition to the crew. Maybe. We’ll see.”

“I just don’t know, Xyra. She’s got a rich family. She’s connected, what if that comes back to haunt us. Who knows how much power her family has,” Theo asked.

“She’s an Ableworth. Rich family, harmless in the political game. No connections beyond business, certainly no underground connections,” Xyra said.

Xyra was from an Eloxian lesser house in the south. Her father had recently boosted the family name and ascended to a lesser house from being no namers. He was well connected in the political world and seemed to have all the right contact, something Xyra seemed to have inherited from him. She spent a lot of her time researching current families on different continents and how they were connected. She knew everyone’s business and if she came across someone she didn’t, within a cycle she would. Between Xyra’s political knowledge and Cooker’s historical knowledge, Theo was confident she had the best group of advisors of any pirates on the Baethean seas.

“Right, and do you know of her? Anything you didn’t tell me before,” Theo pressed on. She wanted to squash any doubts she had in her head.

“Nothing. The Ableworths are huge; she probably belongs to some second cousin to the head of the house or something. Plus, it’s a joke in Elox that Ableworth girls run away. They marry off all the girls by the time they are 16, so a lot of girls bolt before the big ceremony. Get’s the Ableworth’s more business connections. The rich get richer,” Xyra said bitterly.

Theo had reached the end of the rope. She could find no reason not to bring Ava on. She didn’t seem that hopeless in terms of her abilities. She could wield a knife better than any rich high born she had seen since she was Captain of the boat. Her connections didn’t seem like they would lead to any trouble.

“Listen, Cap, if you’re worried about her getting hurt then stop. It’s her choice, she understands the consequences. You need to stop feeling responsible for every person on this crew. You are not forcing them to be here so their deaths are not on you. Neither would Ava’s if she did die,” Xyra put bluntly.

Xyra had a way of getting to the root of Theo’s issues before Theo even knew what the root was. It was scary how she did it and every time she did, it left Theo winded. She relaxed in her chair and let out a sigh, Xyra was right. She could not protect everyone. Trying to by rejecting someone defeated the whole purpose of her mission with the Scorned Woman. Ava had a choice and she made one.

“Fine. You’re right,” Theo said getting up from her desk, “I will stop overthinking it.”

She walked over to her bed and climbed in next to Xyra. They laid in bed for a while, Xyra staring at the ceiling and Theo staring at Xyra.

“Your bed was crafted by the Gods I think. I don’t know why I even have my own room when I could just sleep in this bed forever,” Xyra said.

Theo tried to contain a smile. She had been itching to bring something up every time she had seen Xyra since the night before but couldn’t find an organic way to bring it up. The topic Theo wanted to confront Xyra about was sensitive to her and Theo had to proceed with caution. Without knowing it, Xyra had given Theo the perfect trap.

“Just out of curiosity. Why didn’t you come over last night once we were done with the meeting? I couldn’t sleep.” Theo asked, trying to act as much as a victim as she could.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I fell asleep early and just spent the night in my cabin,” Xyra said and rubbed Theo’s arm as an apology.

Theo pushed herself up and straddled Xyra so she could look at her in the eyes. She intended to catch Xyra in a lie and she had.

“So when I went and knocked on your door last night you ignored me,” Theo asked and crossed her arms.

Xyra tried to wiggle out from under Theo, “I’m a heavy sleeper. I must’ve not heard you.”

“Xyra.”

“Theo.”

“Where were you?” Theo kept the pressure on. She did not budge from her seat on top of Xyra.

“You know the answer to that. Get off me,” Xyra said and pushed and Theo’s legs.

“I want to hear you say it. I want you to hear yourself say how stupid you are being,” Theo insisted.

“I was with Navi last night!” Xyra caved, “You happy?”

It wasn’t her intention to get Xyra this worked up but in hindsight, the conversation would’ve gone that way no matter what. Theo felt guilty but only for a moment. Xyra knew better than that. It was no news that Navi slept around, she was currently doing it with a good number of the crew on board, Theo included. But with Xyra it was different, she had been pining over Navi for lengths. It was a long and complicated history between them but they were together for about half a length. Things didn’t end on the easiest of terms for them and Xyra had never really gotten over Navi.

The time they shared was intense and filled with all kinds of emotions. Navi seemingly got over it pretty easily; she took a sabbatical from the Scorned Woman and she had someone waiting for her on land. Xyra, however, never really moved on. Before Navi, there had been no one and after Navi, there had been no one either. Xyra’s romantic life started and ended with Navi. Still, to that moment, Xyra struggled with keeping herself away from her past lover. It was a constant cycle of Xyra distancing herself from Navi, then getting closer, spending time with her, falling for her, sleeping together, then starting all over again. Navi was oblivious to the fact that Xyra still had feelings for her. Xyra denied it and if it would come up, she would tell Navi that it’s okay and she had no feelings left, lies.

“No, I’m not happy. This hurts you, Xyra. Why can’t you see that?” Theo asked.

“You need to back off, Theo,” Xyra warned and finally managed to get out from under her.

“I won’t. You’re my closest friend and I need you to hear this. You corner me with the truth all the time and it’s time someone did it to you.”

“I’m not hurting anyone. Whoever the fuck is waiting for her onshore is okay with her doing whatever she wants while she’s away. So what’s the big deal if I’m with her.”

“That isn’t how it works Xyra. This situation is a spider’s web and you keep getting more and more tangled. You need to walk away for good,” Theo reasoned.

Xyra scoffed, “So you can sleep with her but I can’t”

Theo opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out. It wasn’t that she was keeping secret the fact that she and Navi had shared a night, but it wasn’t something she expected Xyra to find out. Theo didn’t know how to respond to that because there was nothing to say. Theo was free to do what she wanted but sleeping with the person her best friend had a history with wasn’t the brightest idea.

“Xyra… I’m sorry about that,” Theo apologized, her stomach was in knots, “I should have never gone down that road.”

“No need to apologize,” Xyra shrugged, getting up from the bed, “You and Navi are both free consenting adults the same way Navi and I are. I can’t get mad at you the same way you can’t say shit to me.”

Theo sleeping with Navi was unfair to Xyra and she knew that it did actually hurt Xyra. Theo also knew that this was not the best time to continue the conversation. Xyra was defensive and hurting and Theo was just rubbing salt in a wound. She should have approached Xyra with a little less cornering and more level-headedness. She would give Xyra space before bringing it up again in a nicer way.

“I’m on duty and I was just coming in here to check up on you,” Xyra said in a flat tone, “I should be going now.”

Without another word, she walked out of the room and Theo buried her face in the pillows. How had she managed to ruin the best mood Xyra had been in ages? She knew the answer to her question.

\-----------------------

Ava awoke to her hammock being shaken. Opening her eyes she found four faces staring at her.

“She’s not dead,” Morgana said.

Oceane, who was next to her, slapped her on the arm, “I told you she wasn’t. Stop joking around like that.”

Cooker laughed at the interaction and waved at a confused Ava, “It’s nighttime. We were worried.”

Ava sat up as best she could in the hammock and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, “It’s dark out?”

“Aye, you missed dinner. We’ve not wanted to wake you but people were starting to think you were dead,” Iona piped in, next to Cooker.

Ava looked around the lower deck and saw no light peeking through any cracks. She had slept through the whole sun and dinner. She was starving and she let out an audible sigh when Iona said she had missed dinner.

“We’ve brought you your ration of bread and cheese but everything else was gone by the time we went to fetch some for you,” Oceane admitted and handed her a handkerchief with food inside.

“Not saying I wish you dead, Red but I wouldn’t have minded eating your ration of bread if you were,” Morgana interjected.

This time it was Cooker that slapped her arm, “Listen, we didn’t come here just to harass you. Are you ready for your first pirate adventure?”

Ava was suddenly very awake and very ready, “What is it?”

“Secret Mission. Now, you need to be quiet and follow us. No noises,” Morgana whispered and began to walk away.

The others trailed behind her slowly and Ava scrambled to get up from the hammock quietly. Once both of her feet were on the floor she clutched her food tightly and grabbed a dagger from her bag and prayed that the mission did not require shoes. She crept through the thin hallways of the ship and realized where they were going, the storage room. Ava had a creeping suspicion that they were up to mischief rather than official pirate business. She blamed her confused sleepy state for not seeing it sooner.

Cooker snuck into the room while Morgana ordered the rest of them to a halt. Ava watched in silence as Cooker began to jimmy up one of the floorboards. She reached under it and pulled out a bottle of dark liquid, Ava assumed it was liquor. She snuck the bottle into her coat and then motioned for all of them to start moving. They turned around and snuck back out of the storage room. Morgana eventually led them to the library where she locked the door.

“Mission accomplished,” Morgana said once they were all settled down inside the library.

“Not quite, we don’t have cups,” Iona pointed out.

Cooker scoffed, “I don’t see how that is a problem. I am not above drinking straight from the bottle.”

“Aye, the pirate’s way,” Morgana agreed and took the bottle from Cooker.

Morgana opened it and took a big swig. Ava was sitting in her usual chair feeling a little uneasy. It was her first night of being a pirate and she was stealing from the storeroom.

“Why do you look so down, Red?” Morgana asked.

Ava considered lying but the words just flowed out, “Why are we locked away drinking the crew’s alcohol. I thought to never steal from the ship was one of your rules or something?”

All of them laughed at her before Morgana handed her the bottle.

“It’s mine. I hide it around the ship just in case someone tried to come into my room to take it. We are locked away in here because if anyone else sees us then the whole crew will want some. We are on rations of alcohol and no one is too happy about that so they’d expect a share,” Cooker explained.

“Which means less for us, stop being uptight. You’re a pirate now,” Morgana said.

Morgana was right. Pirates broke rules, they hid away to drink secret liquor, they got sloppy. She put the bottle to her mouth and took a large sip. It was disgusting and the liquid burned her throat. She quickly passed it to Iona and willed herself to hold it down.

“Oi, rich girl, you’re probably going to want to eat that food before you drink anymore,” Oceane said.

“Let’s lay off her with the rich girl thing? She’s on her way to be a pirate now, she’s left that behind,” Cooker stood up for Ava.

Ava’s stomach was filled with butterflies at those words. She had left that world behind now. She was going to become a pirate. It somehow was all just catching up to her right now and she sat back in her chair in silence. It hadn’t even been 100 suns since she had left her home but she had come so far. She would have never imagined ending up where she was at that moment, drinking nasty liquor on a pirate ship with her soon to be crewmates. She opened her handkerchief and began to eat the small amount of food they had saved for her.

By the time the bottle had come back around to her, she had finished eating. She grabbed the bottle and took not one but two sips at that time. She was going to dive into pirate culture headfirst, getting drunk with the crew. She had had drinks on the ship before but by the time the third round had passed she was drunker than she ever had been. She had in truth not been listening to anything they had been. She tuned in and picked up that the conversation was about weapons. She had no idea about anything they were referencing but she tried to keep up. She preferred to sit out of the conversation, either way, enjoying just experiencing what the others were like.

“Did you hear about what they’re cooking up down in the south of the Island?” Iona asked after she had taken a sip of the bottle.

“The fucking little tiny cannon things?” Morgana excitedly asked.

“The what?” Oceane raised an eyebrow.

“Right so those little geniuses down in Dove Island have been trying to create somewhat of a cannon but for a handheld weapon. Powder, little metal ball, and you pull a trigger to release it,” Iona explained making hand gestures to help explain what she meant.

“So a machine that allows you to instantly kill an enemy from a far distance? That sounds incredibly safe and ethical to put into the hands of the army and just anyone who can afford it,” Cooker chimed in.

“It’s not like it would be around anytime soon. But if they could ever do something like that, I’d want one,” Morgana said.

“You can’t shoot an arrow, what makes you think you could shoot and aim with that?” Oceane asked with a smirk on her face. If there was one thing Oceane could do better than Morgana was shoot.

“It’s not like the ability to shoot has anything to do with being on the vanguard,” Morgana challenged.

“Oh fuck you,” Oceane said and raised her middle finger.

“Listen, in all honesty, I’m sorry Theo took you off. I’m not sure what the reason is,” Morgana admitted, feeling guilty at poking fun at a sore subject.

“Aye, I’ve got no clue what that was about. A lot on the table and she pulls Oceane off of the vanguard?” Cooker added.

“I know what it’s about,” Iona said and everyone turned to look at her, “They’re testing you, Oceane.”

“What? Testing me?”

“Aye, think about it. For the past length, we’ve been talking about recruiting and expanding and being one of the crews that have a whole fleet. You need people to run your fleet and Theo’s got an inner circle fit for the expansion,” Iona tried making her case.

“There are plenty of people she can pick from. It feels like a punishment but I don’t feel like I did anything wrong,” Oceane confessed.

“Because you haven’t. Listen, each ship that gets added to the fleet will need someone to navigate it, someone to run it, and someone to lead it. Cooker, Mor, Navi, Xyra they’ve all proved themselves through time. They’ve been with her longer than anyone here,” Iona said.

“Aye, that’s true,” Morgana interrupted.

“You, me and Pearl are new compared to the others. We’ve been here for lengths but we’ve never been tested like this. It was only a matter of time. You’re great on the vanguard but you’ve got strategic skill. Pearl can navigate so it would make no sense to choose her for this job and I’m no good at strategy.” Iona finished.

“That would make sense,” Cooker argued, “Xyra’s guaranteed to lead on whatever the next ship is. That means both of them are going to need a second in command. There’s no way in hell Morgana would give up leading the vanguard and Tuni is our healer. That leaves Pearl and you two. If there isn’t anything to be punished for then I guess this is a good thing.”

Oceane’s demeanor shifted a bit and she seemed to be in a lighter mood than earlier. The words had gotten to her and she was feeling proud that she was picked. It was all speculation but a test made more sense than being punished. Ava was happy for Oceane. She hadn’t understood much about the conversation but she had gathered that Oceane was given another duty and taken off the vanguard for the raid.

“Can I have the bottle?” Ava outstretched her hand.

Cooker handed it to her, “What did Theo tell you about the whole pirate thing?”

“Nothing much. She said I couldn’t start training until after the raid and that I had to move to the lower deck,” Ava answered before drinking from the bottle. She was starting to feel very intoxicated and her thoughts were clouded.

“So you’re in? Well done, rich girl,” Oceane teased, “I knew I sensed pirate in you the second you picked up a dagger.”

“It’s only a matter of time before you’re in the inner circle too by the looks of it,” Iona wiggled her eyebrows.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ava asked.

“Just saying. Theo’s gotten mighty close to you these past few cycles,” Oceane tagged along, “Cap doesn’t just sit and talk for hours with anyone. Last person she did that with was Pearl about two lengths ago and look at her now, studying under Navi and attending meetings.”

Ava hadn’t realized that. She felt her cheeks go red with colors although she wasn’t sure why. She figured Theo was being nice or using her for company. Ava had assumed that when she became a pirate she would be rejected by the friends she had made. She thought it was some unspoken social rule that she would be kicked to the bottom of the pack but it didn’t seem to be that way. They had woken her up, invited her to drink and were having what seemed to be very serious conversations with her present.

“Is that a bad thing? Like, are the others going to resent me for that?” Ava asked. She was worried if being a new pirate didn’t make her to social outcast than being the captain’s pet would.

“For me, if Theo likes you then I like you,” Iona explained, “and everyone on the ship feels that way. If anyone here wanted Theo’s attention they could just ask her for it. Someone else getting it doesn’t make anyone feel bad.”

Ava might have been drunk but what Iona was saying didn’t make sense. Jealousy and plots to get ahead were the norms where she was from. No one could have anything without being judged. Here, on a pirate ship of all places, the attitude was live and let live. Everyone did their own thing and could interact with anyone. She knew that already but she had assumed things would change when she chose to stay. Like she was waiting for the shoe to drop.

“Look, Red,” Morgana said, taking the bottle from her hands, “As far as we are concerned, you’re one of us now. No one cares what you do as long as it doesn’t fuck the crew. Those are the simple rules of being a pirate, protect your sisters and your captain. This next round is a toast to you. Congrats!”

The bottle got passed around and each of the girls raised it when it was their turn and made a toast. Oceane talked about how she hoped to train with Ava more. Morgana toasted to what was gearing up to be a great friendship. Cooker toasted Ava being able to learn more with Cooker by her side and Iona toasted to a new crew member and someone new to talk about rumors with.

Ava heard Iona’s toast and perked up. If Iona was the most updated on the rumor mill then maybe Ava could ask her what had been on her mind forever. For the entire voyage, she couldn’t help but notice how close Xyra and Theo were. It seemed to Ava that they were sleeping in the same room every night. Most suns at dinner, Xyra and Theo would sit close to each other and steal small touches at times. It could have all been innocent, Xyra was Theo’s first mate and they were close. But Ava couldn’t help but wonder. If she hadn’t been drunk maybe the words would have never been spoken but Ava wanted to know.

“Iona, are Theo and Xyra together? Not like friends together but like as nox,” Ava asked, a hiccup escaping her mouth, “Oops.”

All of the girls stared at her without answering. They looked between each other and for what felt like the millionth time that night began laughing at her question. Ava took that as a no.

“Everyone who comes on board eventually always asks the same thing, Red. Don’t get embarrassed,” Morgana said after she had calmed down.

“They’re always together, they sleep together, they’re always touching,” Ava listed.

“No, they aren’t together. They haven’t ever been either if you were wondering that too,” Cooker offered, proving once again to be the only helpful one. “They’ve been together since they were kids. Before any of us, it was Xyra and Theo. That’s just the way they are.”

“Why, are you interested?” Morgana teased and wiggled her eyebrows.

Ava laughed and shook her head, “’Course not. I’m not a nox.”

“How do you know, have you ever tried?” Oceane asked and Ava shook her head.

“Do you like being with men?” Iona piggybacked off Oceane.

“Wouldn’t know,” Ava answered honestly. Sober Ava would have not answered these questions. Scratch that, sober Ava would not have put herself in this position.

“Wait, you’ve never been with anyone before?” Morgana asked her expression one of shock.

Ava looked around the room. She got the feeling that she was the only one in here without any experience. She had already told the truth and there was no going back on it, she hadn’t been with anyone.

“Never,” Ava admitted.

“How old are you?” Oceane asked.

“16”

“And you’ve never?” Cooker asked again. The answer was no and she knew that but it was so shocking to her.

“It’s just never come up I guess,” Ava shrugged her shoulders.

The girls in the room exchanged a look and Ava could not figure out what it meant. For some reason, they stopped talking about Ava and her lack of experience. Not that Ava was complaining, she was starting to get uncomfortable with all of the attention on her. She couldn’t explain why she had never been with a man before but she just hadn’t. She had a penchant for sneaking out so by the time she would have been old enough to sneak out and look for that there were extreme measures in place to keep her in. She did not want to risk finding someone she liked just to be married off to someone else. Plus, she had no desire to go searching for a man to be with. It wasn’t something she wanted to explain to the group so she was happy when they moved on.

For a few more hours they sat and drank. Ava was far too drunk to walk back alone and she was glad she didn’t have to. Iona and Oceane, who slept on the lower decks, escorted her back to her hammock and made sure she got in okay. They exchanged their goodnights and she slipped into alcohol-fueled dreams of being a pirate and fighting over a treasure.

\--------------------------------------------------------

Theo spent most of the suns leading up to the raid preparing for it. If she wasn’t with the smiths helping with weapons she was up top helping Navi sail and reach the necessary speeds to cut some time off the journey. She felt as if she blinked and they had arrived. Theo got practically no rest the whole time at sea, the suns she had off were spent in her room worrying about changes to the plans. She made an effort to not hole herself up though. She stayed for dinner and spent her nights out on the deck with the crew drinking.

Xyra and her had practically stopped speaking unless it concerned the ship or the raid. Xyra had also stopped coming by at night and Theo couldn’t blame her. Not only had Theo inserted herself into a situation that didn’t concern her, but she also did it without tact. Further, she also confirmed to Xyra that she slept with Navi. The night before they were due to arrive at the island, the pirates gathered to party on the deck once again. On the deck, Theo caught Xyra during a moment alone. Xyra moved away from Theo.

Theo grabbed Xyra’s arm, “Xyrabellis, will you talk to me please?”

Xyra looked back at Theo, “I have nothing to say, Theo.”

“No, but I do.”

Xyra pulled her arm away and turned to face Theo, “What is it then?”

“I’m sorry. I know you said there’s nothing to apologize for but we both know that’s bullshit. You’re my right hand, I shouldn’t have made you talk about it like that. I can’t even begin to understand what you’re going through.” Theo conceded and Xyra’s facial features softened.

Xyra hated it but she had a soft spot for Theo. Whenever she would apologize, the genuineness always made Xyra’s anger melt away. She knew Theo had been thinking about it since they had argued. Xyra also could admit that she gave the silent treatment for so long to let Theo stew in her sorriness. Xyra couldn’t give in right then though, she needed Theo to grovel some more and Theo knew it. Theo sleeping with Navi was a line that was crossed that shouldn’t have been. They had slept together in the past but that was before Xyra and Navi were ever involved.

“I don’t know what I was thinking when I slept with her, Xy. There’s no excuse though and I made that decision without thinking of the consequences. I will be forever sorry,” Theo pleaded.

“I’m not accepting your apology. I never will. You were selfish for that Theo. There are 40 women on this boat and you had to choose her…” Xyra sighed, “But I’m done being mad at you. I don’t like it and we’re too close to the raid to let some personal things get in the way.”

Theo nodded and rubbed the back of her neck, “I know it’s not your problem but… I haven’t been able to sleep lately. If you want to come to my room later it’ll be open.”

Xyra wanted to get one last petty thing in before she dropped the issue. She wanted to just say no and that it wasn’t her problem. Instead, she just shrugged and walked away, knowing she would eventually find her way into Theo’s room. Xyra couldn’t help it she knew Theo too well to leave her to try and sleep by herself. It was the night before a raid that their whole lives were riding on and Theo would most likely not be able to sleep without her there. Theo had always been a fussy sleep when they were kids and it wasn’t something she grew out of. Xyra figured out over time that if she was near Theo or had her arms wrapped around her that Theo would sleep marginally better. Xyra didn’t understand it but she did it anyway. Nights before big events, like the upcoming, raid they usually slept in the same bed.

Xyra waited on deck until Theo retired to her room. Xyra wasn’t going to give Theo what she wanted so easily though. First, Theo would have to face whatever had been making her so distant in the past cycle. Xyra was cornered by Theo and now she was going to flip the table. She followed Theo shortly after and sat on Theo’s desk. Theo, who had gotten into bed was trying to hold back a smile.

“You came,” Theo stated obviously.

“Aye but I’m not so sure you’re going to be thankful when we are done here,” Xyra mused.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Theo groaned and pulled her sheet over her head.

“Means we are going to get to the bottom of your sleeplessness. What’s been bothering you?” Xyra asked.

“Xyra listen, I told you I’d come to talk to you when I was ready,” she said from under the blanket

“If I left it up to you that would be never,” Xyra called out.

There was a pause before Theo’s voice returned. She spoke so softly that Xyra almost did not catch it from the muffle of the blanket, “I just don’t want you to lose faith in my ability to be Captain.”

Xyra could sense the vulnerability of Theo’s statement despite the Captain being underneath her sheets. She knew it was spoken from the heart and Xyra’s stomach was in a pit. Her best friend, the person she trusted most, didn’t want to open up out of fear that Xyra would think less of her.

“You are my Captain. I chose you and I will continue to choose you to be my Captain for all my suns, Theo. Nothing you say or do will make me think you’ve lost the ability to bring greatness to this crew,” Xyra said, feeling dumb for speaking so highly about someone that was not emerging from their blanket fortress.

“Fine. What do you want from me?”

“First, I want you to take the blanket off. Then I want you to talk to me about what is going on with you.”

“Take your pick!” Theo said, still from underneath the blanket, “An upcoming mission that if we fail we either die from a noose or die from starvation, my mortal enemy is probably only two suns away from us and I can’t do anything about it, or I’m keeping a secret from my crew which I have only done one other time in my whole time as Captain.”

Xyra walked over to the bed and pulled the blanket off of Theo, “I know your issues but I need you to get to the root of your problems. We’ve been at the edge between life and death many times before and it hasn’t affected you like this.”

“I can’t even begin to formulate the emotions into words, Xyra. Neither of us is good at that and you know it.”

“I know but you’re going to have to. If you are not rested tomorrow and you’re in your head this mission could fail. I need you to dig deep here, what is different about this mission than any other one?” Xyra pushed.

“Nothing. It’s not the mission, it’s me. I’ve just been worrying about the crew. I’ve heard so many times that the crew made a decision to be here and it’s not my responsibility to keep them alive but it is. I just can’t shake the thought of bringing death upon all of us. I know that’s the life we chose to live and tragedy will inevitably strike but I can’t help but feel responsible for it all.” Theo admitted and she felt a weight lift off of her chest.

“Your job is to do everything you can to make sure that when we engage in risky things that we have covered all of our possible options. That we’ve been smart and calculated the risks. That we make money and stick to our goals,” Xyra sat in bed next to Theo.

There was more hanging in the air that needed to be said and Theo just jumped straight back into it.

“And this secret, Xy. It’s killing me… You know how hard it is to look at Cooker right now and know I’m lying to her? She told me when she said she didn’t want a job in the ship’s command that it didn’t mean she wanted to be left out of decisions. I promised her that would never happen. I never thought a time would come that I would lie to my crew about Vaith and here I am. The more I think about it the more guilty I become but also, the more resentment builds. I’m suffering through this secret because they wouldn’t have the clarity to see it’s a suicide mission.” Theo ranted.

Part of Theo’s mission as a captain was to be as fair and as open with her crew as possible. She had never kept a controversial lead from her crew. She always presented it and left it to a vote. This was the first time Theo had kept a lead to herself and the second time in the 2,000 suns she was a captain that she had kept a secret. It was truly bothering Theo and Xyra could see just how much. Xyra had seen Theo do all kinds of things that could make a grown man sick but keeping a secret from the crew is where Theo drew the line at.

Xyra was stunned silent. There was a lot to unpack with what Theo had just dumped on her lap but that was the point of this, get Theo talking. A lot of what Theo said was burdening and it was no wonder Theo had been withdrawn in the recent suns. Theo was staring at Xyra waiting for a response but Xyra was still processing. There was no correct place to start to Xyra cleared her throat and tried to talk Theo through her emotions.

“Resentment?” Xyra asked.

“Not resentment, I guess it’s just anger. It’s a flash and then it goes away. They’re not to blame, if I was in their position I would demand his head no matter the cost. I don’t resent them for it… I’m angry that they are making me keep this secret and they don’t even know it.” Theo admitted. She would never harbor feelings of ill will towards her crew but she also hated keeping this secret.

“If keeping this to yourself is tearing you up that badly, we can tell them in a few suns. When this whole thing is over and we are on our way to Efriti we can tell them all about Vaith. They’ll be mad but they’ll understand,” Xyra offered and Theo nodded, that was a better idea than never saying anything.

“Yeah… Once this whole thing is behind us and we’re done with the raid I’ll tell the crew,” Theo planned.

“Good… That’s settled. But can we talk about what’s really bothering you? Vaith. You’ve been different these past weeks and it’s not just stress or the secret,” Xyra said softly, hoping Theo would see how even small changes in her behavior alerted the crew and others to something being wrong.

“What about him. He’s near and we can’t get to him,” Theo shrugged, waiting for this part of the conversation to just blow over.

“Right, and how is that affecting you, Theo?” Xyra pressed, hoping Theo reflected in on herself.

“I’m done with talking now, Xy. For real now.”

“Let it out.”

“I said, no! It’s stupid and I won’t speak about this any longer,” Theo said again.

“Remember when we used to be on vanguard on Captain Rooley’s ship? How every night before a big raid you would have to go through every step of the plan with me three times,” Xyra reminisced.

“Yes, it was the only way to keep you calm,” Theo said.

“That was stupid. I would even freak out over missions that had no risk to them at all but you were there to calm me down every time. No matter how silly or trivial, you were there. Now, let me do that for you. It’s been you and me since the beginning, Theo. I know you better than I know myself, let me help you through these things,” Xyra was begging and Theo knew it.

It wasn’t in a begging tone but Theo knew that Xyra was stressed out over Theo’s stress. Theo had to admit that talking the little that she had talked did indeed lift a burden off her shoulders. Talking it through with Xyra wasn’t that difficult and the long term benefits outweighed the discomfort of confronting her own emotions.

“I feel like I’m failing everyone by not going after him. For not even trying, “ she admitted.

“Who would you be failing?”

“My parents, my crew, everyone Vaith has ever hurt,” Theo admitted quietly.

Xyra walked away from her spot beside Theo and opened up a draw on the bottom of her desk. Xyra pulled out a thick book wrapped in leather. She flipped through the pages until she found what she was looking for.

“I’ve been keeping a ledger of the services we provide through the Scorned Woman. I update them every few cycles if there are significant changes to be recording. I don’t tell you about it because you’ve always said it wasn’t about how many people we helped, that even one mattered but I want to show you now,” Xyra said walking back over to Theo.

“Xy… This isn’t necessary,” Theo said. She truly wasn’t a number person and she wasn’t even sure what the point of all of it was.

“In the four lengths since its operation, the Scorned Woman and its crew have been responsible for transporting over 650 women safely to their destination. These women ranged from victims of violence, unhappy marriages, young runaways, and mothers fleeing with their families. This was all done at no cost to them. A total of 210 women have been a part of your crew throughout time and of those 210, 190 had sent remittances home at some point on board. A total of 36, 569 gold coins have been sent back to local economies as of three cycles ago. There are a total of 92 aboveground and underground brothels operating out of major port cities and you have more than half of them reporting to you. If we say that each brothel averages 30 women then that is over 1,200 women that are under your protection. You’re not failing your family or us by turning away from this mission. You’d be failing everyone if you didn’t. The world needs this ship. Women need this ship.”

Theo was floored. She had nothing to respond to Xyra with. Tears had formed in Theo’s eyes hearing what Xyra was reading and she wrapped her arms around Xyra. They hugged for a moment before Theo pulled away.

“Thank you. Truly,” Theo said.

She got up from the bed, went to her desk and pulled out the jerky she stored in there. All tension and concerns in the room fled and just as quickly as Theo had opened up she had switched back into carefree Theo. Xyra rolled her eyes but smiled anyway. Progress had been made and Theo looked better already. As quickly as the conversation had come up, it had ended.

\---------------------------

The morning before the raid was a blur. Theo woke up to violent knocking on her door, it was Morgana with an updated list of who she was taking on the vanguard. Theo grabbed the list from Morgana and gave it to Xyra who was on the bed. Theo yawned and stretched out her arms as she walked over to the desk. Xyra rubbed her eyes and sat up in bed blinking to adjust to the light. She began to read the list.

“Wizer’s on here,” Xyra pointed out.

“You can’t take Wizer. She’s on cannons with Oceane,” Theo said.

“I need Wizer. She knows how to pay attention to commands,” Morgana crossed her arms, “Make Jocasta be on cannons.”

“Jocasta is with Tuni helping her carry all her medicine,” Theo said.

“Tuni can take Ava,” Morgana suggested.

“Absolutely not,” Xyra said, “We are not putting her in the middle of a fight like that with no training.”

“She has training. Plus, she and Tuni would be far enough from the fight that they won’t get hurt,” Morgana argued, “Their job wouldn’t start until after the danger passes.”

“And if we fail our attack and they are captured?” Theo asked.

“They die,” Xyra answered for Morgana.

“Aye but if we fail the land attack then we fail the mission as a whole and you lot die of starvation anyway. There is death either way but with Wizer with us, there is less of a chance of it going down that road.”

Xyra and Morgana both looked over at Theo for a decision. She wanted to shut Morgana down but it wasn’t all too bad of an idea. The ship, where Ava would be staying, could potentially be more dangerous than carrying some supplies on land. Plus, Wizer’s help would be beneficial and Jocasta could use the training on operating the cannons.

“Ava has to agree. If she doesn’t, the vanguard will have to do without Wizer,” Theo ruled.

Morgana took her win and walked away, presumably to find Ava. Xyra sat on the edge of the desk and took a deep breath. They both sat in comfortable silence knowing that it would be the last calm moment for a while. It was only a matter of time before the crew would begin waking up and last-minute preparations were made. They planned to have the vanguard on land a few hours before sunset to trek inland to the camp and wait until nightfall. Once nighttime, Xyra would sail the ship to the Southside of the Island and sink the ship that was reportedly in the bay and the vanguard would attack camp before securing the merchandise.

Theo got up and went to her wardrobe to sort through what she was going to wear to the fight. Xyra watched her trying to hold back a sarcastic comment. Theo never wore the same thing twice during a fight and she always made sure she was presentable. She would pick out nice clothes that were expensive knowing they would just have to be thrown out after the fight. Xyra would never understand it but Theo insisted on it. It’s either my funeral or theirs and it’s only right to dress for the occasion she would say.

Once dressed, Theo and Xyra went over the plan one last time to make sure they had everything under control. Theo went out on the deck while Xyra stayed back. Morgana came to her side to inform her that Ava had enthusiastically accepted to go with Tuni. Theo thanked her and instructed her to go let Jocasta and Wizer know of their new stations. Theo herself went to check up on the rest of the girls in her ‘inner circle’ to make sure they had the manpower, supplies, and plans ready to go. Everything had to go as close to the plan as possible if they wanted to succeed and Theo was going to make damned sure that everyone had what they needed.

By the time she had a moment to breathe, land was quickly approaching and the vanguard was gearing up to be taken to land. Theo marched to her cabin and put on her Captain’s coat, her hat, and grabbed her sword. She walked to her desk and strapped a dagger to her leg. Standing alone in her room she took a second to clear her head. Theo closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and willed herself to be calm. She chased out any stray thoughts out of her head and focused on the mission ahead. Once she was ready she rejoined the crew on the deck.

Morgana looked around to make sure all of the vanguard was ready before calling out that they were ready to board the boats to be rowed to shore. Morgana was the lead on the vanguard. She made sure the women were organized, came up with a strategy and was the point person if things went wrong. On other crews, if the Captain accompanies the vanguard, they became the lead but Theo didn’t believe in that method. She knew she could be more helpful as a fighter than leading it and she was so used to giving commands all the time, it was healthy to let someone else do it. Also, Morgana did not have the same responsibility over the crew that Theo did and that allowed her to make riskier moves as well.

Theo waited for everyone to climb over the ship and into the boats before she made her way to the edge too. Xyra was waiting there for her and Theo put her hand on Xyra’s shoulder when she got close enough.

“If I don’t make it back, ship’s yours,” Theo said as she did before every dangerous mission.

Xyra simply nodded and put her hand over Theo’s, “Careful out there, Captain.”


	13. Revelations

Theo climbed over the side of the ship and dropped down into the awaiting boat. Morgana, Tuni, and Ava were all in her boat. Ava’s expression was one that Theo knew all too well, she also knew the accompanying feelings. Ava was battling between nerves and excitement and her stomach was most likely flipping around. She was spinning her dagger in her hand and tapping her foot against the wooden boat.

“Red, you’ll be okay,” Morgana reassured her, “If anything goes sideways just remember what I taught you.”

Ava pointed to different places on her body, “Side of the neck, base of the neck, liver, armpit.”

“Exactly, you’re a natural killer,” Morgana said.

Theo laughed at that, “Let’s try and avoid having to kill someone for as long as possible.”

“It’s not at the top of my list of things to do, don’t worry,” Ava said in response and put her dagger away.

The rest of the boat ride was spent in silence interrupted with short attempts at small talk by Tuni. No one was in the mood to talk though; Ava was too nervous, Theo was too focused, and Morgana’s head seemed to be in the clouds. To Theo, it felt as if they were never going to get off but eventually their boat touched the sand. She grabbed the edge of the boat and hopped off into the knee-deep water. She touched the ground and took off running towards the cover of the trees. All of them, Ava and Tuni included, followed suit trying to get hidden as quickly as they could. The boats were starting to be rowed back as the vanguard slipped into the jungle.

The vanguard held a total of 25 women, 2 of which were not fighting. Morgana led the line as they trekked their way through the dense trees and vines. They were as quiet as they could be, cautiously stopping at any noise they heard. There were a lot of them and the risk of being caught was high if that was the case they had all been instructed to flee in a certain direction with a certain group. However, the need never arose. They carefully climbed through the difficult terrain for hours, taking short breaks to hydrate and rest.

Morgana held her hand up and everyone stopped. She turned to Theo and whispered, “I think this is as far as we should go. Want to go, scout, the camp?”

Theo agreed and Morgana signaled to Iona to let her know they would be leaving. Once the group was informed Theo and Morgana snuck through the brush. They walked for about ten minutes before finding the first signs of a camp. Theo spotted it first and quickly pulled Morgana behind a large tree. When they were sure no one was around they crept out from behind the tree and advanced further, trying to get a better look at what they were up against.

The military had cleared a large area in the jungle and set up tents and small wood cabins but besides that, not many strategic advantages were revealed to them. Theo scanned the camp and counted only around 10 men out and about between the tents, not an accurate reading. The visible soldiers were armed with swords but had no form of armor. Men were drinking despite there still being light outside and those she could see looked relaxed. They did not seem to be expecting an attack. There was no way to gauge how big the camp was or how best to attack them while keeping the element of surprise. Morgana shared Theo’s concerns about that.

“We can’t see shit. We’d be going in blind,” Morgana whispered.

“We can’t go further. We’re just going to have to hope there’s not more than 30 men,” Theo replied.

“Our girls can take at least 40 men,” Morgana bragged and Theo ignored her, opting to start walking back instead.

Once they had walked far enough that they could speak more clearly, Theo shared her thoughts.

“They aren’t expecting us. You saw how they were dressed? Not a piece of armor in sight. We don’t have an accurate map of the camp but we have night time and surprise on our side.”

“Aye, what worries me is when we rush in there we have no idea how many we are up against,” Morgana echoed back Theo’s worries.

“Running in from the north of the camp alone isn’t smart,” Theo said.

Morgana was silent for a beat, walking and thinking, “I’ll take some through the North, you take a group through the East of the camp and Iona can take a group through the West. Once the cannons go off they’ll be running to the noise through the South of the camp.”

“That could give us a slight advantage. Catch them from all sides. It works. I think we should get in position as soon as possible though. Sun is setting and those cannons will go off soon.”

Theo’s trust in Morgana’s ability to lead the vanguard was only strengthened by Morgana’s performance leading time and time again. Once they arrived at camp Morgana made quick work of grouping the women up and sending them to their wait out locations. Theo took the smallest group and headed east while Iona led her group west.

Morgana informed Ava and Tuni that they were going to start moving again. Tuni and Ava had both found relief from the walking by sitting on a tree root. Ava was exhausted but she wasn’t going to admit it so when they were instructed to leave it took every ounce of willpower not to groan. Sweat was dripping down her back, her clothes sticking to her. The supplies Tuni needed were not heavy but halfway through the trek, they had turned into a pile of stones. They walked in silence, carefully watching out for spiderwebs and critters on the ground. Until they reached the location they needed to stay at to await the signal.

Morgana quietly shuffled through the women to come up in front of Tuni and take her hands, “Stay back, my love. Please, wait until the fight is over before you come help.”

“I have a duty to heal my crew, Mor. I can’t promise I won’t come in before it’s over,” Tuni whispered back.

Morgana sighed and squeezed Tuni’s hands and shook her head, “Please be careful.”

Tuni slipped one of her hands out of Morgana’s and brought it up to rest it on her cheek. Morgana closed the distance between her and her partner and kissed her. They shared a short moment before Morgana bid her farewell and made her way to the front of her group, ready to pounce at a moment’s notice.

\-----------------------

There had been three close calls in the time that Theo had been waiting. It seemed that there were two guards on patrol that kept passing by on their rounds around camp. It had been close to five hours since they had been dropped off and the light from the sun was almost gone. Finally, they heard the cannons go off, Xyra had successfully attacked the ship. Or someone had attacked theirs, either way, it was time for her to charge. She drew her sword and gave the order to attack.

Men were running out of the tents and towards the beach with their swords drawn. With the soldier’s backs turned to the rest of the camp, the pirates were in the prime position to launch their surprise attack. Theo instructed the archers to cover the fighters before charging forward into the fight. Some of the soldiers were running towards the beach and others had turned back around to protect the camp. As Theo advanced within the camp she caught sight of the other groups entering as well. So far it was all going to plan.

A soldier charged at her and she blocked his swing with her sword. She was aggressive in her movements, taking advantage of the lack of time the soldier had to prepare. With ease, she slashed her sword down against his in a way that knocked it out of his hand. She thrust her sword forward and buried it in his stomach. She kicked him off the sword and turned around to meet the next soldier’s swing. She had a second to look around and they seemed to be handling it. Some of the soldiers running to the beach meant there were fewer soldiers left at the camp which let Theo’s crew easily cut down the enemy.

A large man with an ax charged at Theo and she barely ducked out of the way of the first swing. The second swing was a little too close for comfort and she brought up her sword to block the third one. She swung her sword three times, just to be blocked by the stick of his ax every time. On the last block, he brought up the butt of his ax to whack Theo across the face. Theo felt the blood flood her mouth as she fell back onto the ground. She saw the man looming over her bringing the ax swinging down and she rolled out of the way. In the short second he struggled to get the ace dislodged from the ground, she brought her sword up and put it through his chest.

Ava was watching from the trees with Tuni. Ava could tell Tuni was just as anxious as she was watching the fighting go on. This time, it was much different to watch then back at the brothel. She was entranced with the way the women were fighting, they looked and moved like the elite soldiers she would watch train in the gardens at her house. Except where the training ended with a meal in the kitchen, this ended with blood and a body. She expected herself to be more repulsed with watching death happen in front of her but she was handling it well. She was equally split between stress, sadness for the lives that were being lost, and admiration for the skill the pirates had.

Through the fighting, she managed to catch sight of Theo driving her sword up into a large man wielding an ax and she wanted to yell at her to hurry up and get back on her feet. Ava lost her focus on Theo when she saw Morgana swinging her morningstar just in front of them. As Morgana’s weapon connected with someone’s head, sending them hurtling to the ground another soldier ran up to her and drove their dagger into her side. She yelled in pain as he removed it from her side and she dropped her morningstar. He punched Morgana and she fell to the ground, out like a light.

Tuni let out a blood-curdling scream and ran forward to Morgana. She reached for her belt and pulled a dagger from her side. As if she was born doing it, she threw the dagger and it found its home in the soldier’s throat. Once she made it to Morgana’s side, she dropped to her knees and began searching through her medicine bag.

Ava didn’t know what to do, should she force Tuni to come back? Should she go try and help? With Tuni not paying attention to her surroundings, a soldier was able to catch them by surprise. He grabbed Morgana’s weapon and threw it far away. She stood there frozen as she watched the soldier run up behind Tuni and place the handle of his ax against her throat, choking her. Morgana, who was still passed out, was of no help and Ava realized she was the only one that could help Tuni.

Side of the neck, base of the neck, liver, armpit, she remembered. But, none of those were available to her. She was panicking and Tuni was losing time. She was going to have to go for his back. She pulled her dagger out and clutched it in her hand, she snuck around until she was behind him then she brought up the dagger and plunged it down into his back. The man yelled and let go of Tuni. Ava used both hands to pull it out, remembering Oceane telling her that pulling it out was needed but, also very hard. She was not wrong, Ava did not expect that much resistance coming out. The soldier swiveled around and swung at Ava but she ducked and brought the butt of her dagger up to his nose, mimicking an exercise she had done with Morgana. His arms came up to his nose and she took the opportunity to kick him as hard as she could in the groin, bringing him to his knees.

“Ava, you have to finish it!” Tuni tried to get out as she was regaining her breath as the man started to get back up and Ava tried to remember what she was taught.

She ran up behind him and pulled back his head and stabbed her knife into the side of his neck. She looked away as the knife broke the skin and she felt bile rise as her hands went warm where the blood was flowing out onto it. She let go of the knife still lodged in the man’s neck and he fell to the ground. Some women were left fighting but, as the number of men left alive swindled, others ran towards the beach.

Tuni, having regained her breath, pushed past the pain in her throat and yelled at the nearest woman. She beckoned them over and commanded them to stay watch.

“Ava!” Tuni yelled, “I need you! Your bag!”

Ava snapped out of her trance and dropped to her knees next to Tuni. She opened her bag and handed it to Tuni who handed her a stack of cloth. Tuni carefully rolled up Morgana onto her side and lifted her shirt to expose the bleeding wound. Tuni instructed Ava to use the cloth to put pressure against the wound and Ava obeyed. Her hands shook and her heart could not stop beating out of her chest but, she was going to do her best to help Morgana. Ava spared a glance over at Tuni who looked calm, the opposite of what Ava would be feeling if her partner passed out in front of her.

Tuni pulled a bottle of alcohol out from her bag and made Ava lift the cloth. She poured it over the wound to disinfect it and she pulled leaves out from the bag as well. Ava peeked around to see that the fighting had stopped and there were but a few stragglers left alive that the women were rounding up. Bodies were littering the floor and Ava felt sick, whatever fascination she felt before she no longer felt. She looked back at the task at hand when Tuni instructed her to remove the cloth. The wound had stopped bleeding and Tuni began to lay the leaves over the wound.

Ava couldn’t stand to see the open wound any longer and she looked away. At the south of the camp, she saw Theo walking back from the beach where she assumed Theo had chased down those who ran away. Theo was taking stock of the aftermath of the fight and she locked eyes on Tuni, Ava, and Morgana. Theo began jogging over trying to see what was going on and when she realized what had happened she broke into a full sprint.

“Morgana!” Theo shouted as she ran towards them. She fell to her knees next to them and the panic was clear on her face, “Tuni, talk to me. What’s wrong with her?!”

“For now, she’ll be okay. We have to make sure it doesn’t get infected. She was hit on the head and has been out for more than a few minutes,” Tuni recited in a calm clinical voice, “Are there more that are injured?”

“Aye.”

“Okay, Ava I need you to keep laying these leaves on like I was doing okay? And when it looks all covered you’re going to need to bandage it tightly,” Tuni instructed.

Ava took the leaves from Tuni and began to do what was asked of her. Theo, who was still kneeling next to her, noticed the blood on Ava’s hands. Looking around she realized that it didn’t belong to Morgana but the man with Ava’s dagger in his neck. She had just killed someone for the first time. Theo put a hand over Ava’s to stop her and Ava looked up.

“I will find someone else to do this. I think you should go back to the ship,” Theo said gently.

Ava took Theo’s hand off of her own and kept dressing the wound with the leaves, “I’m fine here. Tuni and Morgana need my help.”

Theo would have argued but she knew that Ava was in shock. The first time she killed someone, it took her a whole sun for it to hit her. When it did she was inconsolable and she’s sure Ava will be too. Ava wanted a distraction because without it she would have to face what she did. Theo looked down at Morgana and whispered a prayer in Aelizan for her before standing up and walking away. While Ava helped Morgana and Tuni helped the other wounded, Theo began to shout orders to coordinate the movement of the merchandise.

Some of the women were in charge of moving the bodies to somewhere where they couldn’t be easily seen. Others were in charge of carrying the merchandise to the beach so it could be transported to the ship. Theo put herself to work and began helping her crew move heavy boxes to the beach. As she was walking back from the beach for more cargo Oceane stopped her.

“Theo!” She said as soon as she caught up to Theo, “Xyra’s requested that whenever you were ready to head back to the ship to debrief.”

“Thank you Oceane,” Theo smiled at her, “How did you enjoy being the cannon girl?”

Oceane straightened up subconsciously, trying to impress Theo. Ever since the others had said this was a test, she had been on her best and brightest behavior, “I loved it. You were right about pulling me off the vanguard.”

“I knew you’d have an eye for good shots,” Theo patted her on the back then walked towards one of the boats rowing back to the ship.

She made conversation with the women on her ride back. They were all celebrating their win and talking about the different fights and encounters they had with the Baethean soldiers. Theo, for the short ride back, willed herself to stop thinking about what was ahead and to enjoy the moment and she did. She rejoiced in the victory with the small number of people around her as they broke out into a silly pirate song. Once they got to the ship, she did her part to help unload the cargo before climbing aboard.

Theo spotted Xyra at the helm and she climbed to stairs to get there. She was speaking with Navi and Theo cleared her throat to announce her presence. Xyra turned around and broke out into a huge smile of relief at seeing Theo alive and well.

“Seems like we did it,” Theo said.

“Seems like we did,” Xyra laughed and stepped forward to wrap Theo up in a hug.

Theo hugged back tightly then pulled away, “How’d it go here?”

“Not a scratch on your ship and all thanks to me,” Navi said and bowed. She had managed to get the boat closer to the island than Theo thought was possible which was an impressive feat.

“The other ship didn’t seem to have anyone on it. It went down pretty easily. No one on our side was hurt,” Xyra followed up.

“Better news than down there. We lost Moira and Morgana’s down for now. Tuni says she’ll be okay but we have to wait and see,” Theo said solemnly.

Navi and Xyra both looked concerned at the news of Morgana. There was nothing any of them could do except pray to whatever gods they believed in and hope Tuni could keep any infection away.

“Do you know what happened?” Navi asked.

Theo crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back against the edge and shook her head, “With Morgana? No, but what I can tell it was pretty messy. One of the bodies had Ava’s dagger still in it.”

“Red?!” Navi was shocked, “She killed someone?”

“Either that or she gave her dagger to someone but I have a feeling that it was her own doing,” Theo clarified.

“Fuck,” Xyra stated plainly, “She’s going to have a rough time with that one. And Moira?”

Theo closed her eyes and remembered seeing Moira dead on the beach, blood spilling out of the side of her mouth and her heart ached. Moira had a few sisters she took care of and sent money to. She was a fierce fighter and she had been with the crew for close to two lengths.

“Spear through the chest. It was out on the beach, during our second attack. She could’ve stayed back and been okay…” Theo lamented.

“It’s not your fault,” Navi consoled.

“I know. Xyra, make sure to send money to her family that covers expenses for the next length,” Theo requested.

“Aye, next time we are at port I will arrange for that,” Xyra agreed.

Theo dismissed herself and headed down to the storage room to check on Miss Yurwa. She was looking a little bit frazzled with the sudden rush of inventory coming into the mostly empty storeroom. Theo rushed to do her most to help, dictating what was coming in so Miss Yurwa could write it down without having to count or sort through it. She was down there for longer than she could keep track of. The lamp in the room had gone out twice though and that was indication enough that it had been hours.

Xyra showed up once the flow of goods had stopped, “Everything’s been loaded onto the ship. There is a party currently being launched upstairs with some barrels of ale found on the island.”

“I better get up there and make sure that ale isn’t poisoned. I’m going to have to drink it to make sure. I sacrifice so much for the safety of this crew,” Theo joked and walked out, Xyra following close behind.

True to Xyra’s statement the women had made quick work of tapping into the ale barrels. Some of the women had instruments and were clumsily playing together and giving the deck a lively vibe. Theo wanted to get into the spirit of the festivities but she felt wrong about it. Morgana was hurt and unable to come out and celebrate with them and Moira would never be able to again. She decided to stay away from the party for a little bit longer.

Theo made her way over to the infirmary and walked inside. She found Tuni dressing wounds and a few of the girls on the beds. Morgana was on the first bed, sleeping, with Ava sitting on a chair next to her. Tuni rushed over when Theo walked in and Tuni threw her arms open at Theo. Theo walked forward and hugged Tuni tightly.

“How is your woman?” Theo asked, voice muffled by Tuni’s neck.

“She was awake a little bit ago,” Tuni said, pulling away, “Ava did a good job dressing her wound and now we just wait. In seven suns we’ll know if she’s passed the worst of it.”

“She’ll be okay,” Theo said, “She’s got a hard-ass head so I don’t think she’ll give in that easily.”

“I know… I’m hopeful,” Tuni said then looked over at Ava and back at Theo.

Theo understood what Tuni was trying to say. Ava was staring blankly at Morgana, worry etched on her face. She was focusing on Morgana to avoid handling whatever shock she was feeling.

Theo walked over to Ava and crouched down next to her. Theo placed a hand on Ava’s knee, “Hey, let’s get you out of here okay?”

“I don’t want to go to my room,” Ava quickly said, referencing the lower decks where her hammock was.

“We don’t have to. There is a party going on outside. We could go to my room. We can sneak into Xyra’s room and trash everything then blame it on another crew member,” Theo teased and Ava cracked a smile.

“The party sounds fine,” Ava said and Theo offered her a hand.

Ava took it and stood up, following Theo’s lead. Outside, Ava saw the large group of women celebrating and drinking as they had been for the past several nights. Ava was met with cheers as she walked outside and all the women raised their glasses to her.

“A girl becomes a woman!” One woman shouted from a corner of the deck.

“To a woman’s first kill!” Another one shouted.

“Here, here!” they all said and took a sip of their drinks.

Ava’s blood ran cold. How had they all found out? She didn’t say anything back, unable to speak or move. The fight between her and the soldier kept replaying in her head. The feeling of her dagger sinking into flesh. How he looked lying dead as she tended to Morgana, eyes open and knife protruding from his neck. She took a deep breath trying to calm herself but it wasn’t working and every moment that went by felt like a rope was getting tied tighter around her neck.

She felt Theo’s hand resting on her lower back as she tried to lead Ava forward.

“How about we go to my room?” Theo suggested but Ava just pushed back against her.

“No. I want to stay out here,” Ava managed to get out.

Ava looked pale and unwell. Theo could sense that Ava was on the precipice of a breakdown, she had seen it with so many other women before. Theo couldn’t force Ava to do anything she didn’t want, that would have just made things worse. Instead, she looked around for a solution. The helm. Ava would be able to see out to the party but it was far away enough from the commotion that the constant noise wouldn’t bother her.

“We’ll stay out here then,” Theo took Ava’s hand into her own, “Follow me.”

This time, Ava did. They walked hand in hand to the helm and sat down on the last stair before reaching the upper deck. Theo had grabbed Ava a large mug of ale on their way there and when Ava took a drink she didn’t put it down until it was gone. Theo said nothing once Ava finished and neither did she. Theo didn’t know what to say. Usually, she did, and she had done this whole consoling to others after they killed someone, far too many times to count. With Ava though, it felt harder.

“It’ll be hard to face what you did but it’s part of this process,” Theo tested the waters, “how do you feel?”

“Numb,” Ava answered, picking at her nails, trying to get whatever blood was under her fingernails out.

“Right…” Theo said awkwardly, unsure of how to continue.

“How do you do it? Kill people and be so okay after,” Ava asked, looking up from her hands.

“Depends on who you ask. It’s different for us all,” Theo replied.

“I’m asking you.”

“It’s us versus them, at that moment. Kill or be killed. For me, it’s gotten easier over the lengths to come to terms with it… As fucked up as that answer is, it gets easier,” Theo said, a tad bit ashamed to be saying so.

“But this time it wasn’t us versus them. We attacked their island without them provoking us first. It didn’t have to be us versus them but it was. That man died because we needed something that they had,” Ava admitted.

“Aye...” Theo conceded, “and to you, right now, the way we do it with ease might not make sense. But to these women, those soldiers are the enemy. They have always been. When those men enlisted in the Baethean army and set out to do it’s bidding they became the enemy of every pirate here. It’s still an us versus them, it’s just different.”

“How is that?”

“It’s not us versus them in the sense that it is either our lives or theirs. It is pirates versus soldiers. It’s the lower class against those with unearned positions of power. You’ve read enough books by now to understand the damage done by the authorities, our police, our military.” Theo explained.

“Aye but that doesn’t make it any easier,” Ava said, pain evident in her tone.

“Not for you. You’ve only read about the horrors the military has engaged in, these women have lived it… For them, the death of an ‘innocent’ soldier is revenge for their deceased family member, their town that was destroyed, their life that was taken from then.” Theo tried to reason.

Ava understood. She said nothing to indicate the fact, too caught up in her thought, but she understood. It made sense but it didn’t help her to get any close to a solution to the burning hole she felt in her chest.

“Is that what it is for you? Revenge?”

“Aye, in part,” Theo openly admitted, “I also do it for my crew. If one soldier’s death means my women are better off in the world for it, then it is easier for me.”

“Have you ever felt this way? Like you’re drowning?” Ava asked.

“Yes, when I first started,” Theo said.

“What did you do to make it go away?”

“I drank until I felt like I was floating and not drowning then I would cry in Xyra’s arms,” Theo confessed, “Although, I recommend the opposite procedure as to not encourage any bad habits from forming.”

“I wouldn’t even know where to begin,” Ava said.

“What happened is a pretty good place to start,” Theo offered. If Ava was going to start talking then Theo would be the best support she could be.

Ava did open up. She explained what happened, she was watching Theo fight then Morgana caught her attention. Morgana got knocked out and Tuni ran to help. Tuni got attacked and Ava had to act quickly and get the man off of her. She explained how she stabbed him and what it felt like when she realized he was dying. Hot tears spilled out of her eyes and her voice wavered, she was keeping herself from sobbing and Theo could tell.

“I saved Tuni and Morgana. I know I had to do what I did but I think what’s hardest for me to get past is that I did it… I did it and I’m feeling things I’ve never felt before yet I’m not running for the hills. I’m not thinking about getting the hell off this ship or begging never to be put with the vanguard again. I want to stay and I know that means I will eventually have to kill more people…” Ava finished.

Theo was left without words to say. She didn’t know how to respond to that but it seemed Ava didn’t need anything to be said. She grabbed the mug she had finished earlier and got up.

“Thank you for the talk. I’m going to get blackout drunk now,” Ava said and walked down the stairs and straight into the party.

\----------------------------

Theo’s night went uneventfully. She watched Ava throwback drink after drink and she felt sorry for how Ava would feel in the morning. Theo ended up turning into her cabin a bit earlier than she usually would the night after a raid but she had to be up the next morning early to set a course to sail. The exhaustion from the sun’s events let her fall asleep fairly easily and she awoke to Navi entering her room the next morning.

By the time Theo had fully woken up and sat up in her bed Navi was sitting behind Theo’s desk eating a piece of fruit they had brought back from the island. Theo groaned at the early intruder and fell back in her bed.

“If I had known it was your annoying ass I wouldn’t have woken up,” Theo put a pillow over her face.

“That is no way to talk to your best asset,” Navi scoffed and took a bite of her fruit.

“Why is it so early!” Theo’s screams were muffled by the pillow, “Why did last night take so long!”

“You’re such a baby. Xyra and I stayed up going through the inventory all night and charting. In fact, I haven’t slept yet. But here you are, sleeping away and doing no work,” Navi sighed dramatically.

Theo removed the pillow from her face, “You stayed up all night with Xyra?”

“Hm. That was absolutely not the point of what I said though. We did the inventory and we have a course,” Navi repeated.

“I heard you. She’s my first mate and you’re my navigator. I’m supposed to applaud you for doing your job?” Theo laughed and got up.

“Yes, please” Navi smiled at Theo and batted her eyes.

“Fine,” Theo rolled her eyes playfully, “Thank you.”

She walked over to Navi and planted a kiss on her forehead then stole her piece of fruit.

“Oi!” Navi shouted.

“Starving,” Theo moaned around a mouthful of fruit.

“You’re a dick,” Navi said, “Now, I’m staying in your chair.”

Theo shrugged and sat on the desk, “So, this inventory and chart you were talking about. Want to tell me about them?”

Navi unrolled a map and showed Theo where they had plotted a course to. Theo studied the map for a second then sighed exasperatedly.

“Why are we going to Niveal?” Theo asked.

“They voted on it last night,” Navi laughed, “They were all pretty drunk.”

“They’re going to blow all their money,” Theo complained.

“They just went on two risky missions in a row. One got them each a share of 500 gold pieces and the other has supplied the ship with cycles worth of supplies. Let’s enjoy it. I’m sure they won’t spend all of their gold pieces.`` Navi tried convincing her.

“I can name 9 people on this ship that would,” Theo challenged.

“Fine,” Navi conceded, “I’m sure only some of them will spend all their gold pieces.”

Theo sighed and tried to hold back a smile, “I guess Niveal would be a good time.”

Theo rolled up the map and handed it back to Navi. Niveal was a favorite among her crew and other degenerates like them. It was an island that was positioned between Dove Island and Efriti. Efriti has laid claim on it since the start of Baethos, claiming it was in their waters. The center approved this and ruled that Efriti would govern over it. However, as technology advanced and nautical tools improved it was discovered that Niveal was a few kilometers into Dove Island waters. So the island finds itself benefiting from a unique political and geographic situation.

Niveal is a lawless island that performs its lawlessness in full view of the government. There was an unspoken rule between the political powers involved, no one made a move on Niveal. The Center couldn’t declare it a part of Dove Island because it would lead to a rebellion in Efriti. With continuous small scale rebellion already taking place all around Efriti, it only took a spark to ignite a fire that The Center wasn’t sure it could control. Militias of any kind were banned in all continents but that didn’t stop them from having covert underground groups that were sometimes hired by certain politicians to advance a political agenda. That meant that Dove Island could make no move on Niveal without Efriti retaliating. It also meant that Efriti could not step in and police without Dove Island feeling threatened and sending in their militias into Efriti and NiIveal to conduct terror campaigns. The Center couldn’t step into police in case it was seen as overreaching and both Efriti and Dove Island would revolt.

Due to this ongoing crisis, Niveal had become a hub for illicit business and partying. Pirates, businessmen, young people in rich and high born families all come together in harmony on the island. There was gambling, a lack of rules on same-sex relationships, a bustling weapons and drug business, and a booming underground market for expensive stolen goods. It was a pirate’s paradise, well, besides having to share all the glory with non-pirates. Theo was concerned that the money her crew worked hard to earn would be wasted on a few drunken nights in Niveal. However, Navi was right. It was their money and they could spend it how they like. Plus, the crew had voted and she had promised.

“You’re smiling. You’re excited,” Navi pointed out.

“So, what if I wanna spend my money and go wild for a few suns. I’ve been working very hard lately,” Theo said.

“Are you expecting me to thank you for doing your job?” Navi mocked.

“Shut it. Is the updated inventory written in Aelizan? And you’ve burned the past log?” Theo asked.

Navi handed Theo the papers, “You asked as if Xyra’s ever forgotten to stick to the rules.”

Common was what most people read and wrote so Theo, Xyra, and Navi decided to begin recording all information that could be used when they were boarded in a language very few people spoke. Theo looked through the pages and her smile grew with every new one she read.

“We hit a gold mine. We’ve got medical equipment, ammunition, weapons, armor, food, ale, hardware, clothes,” Theo listed.

“I’m aware, I was there when we wrote it,” Navi said.

“Two successes in a row? I’m the king of the pirates and nobody can knock me down from my throne,” Theo boasted.

From the open door, they heard a call from the crow’s nest, “Three ships on the horizon!”

“You sure about that?” Navi asked as Theo bolted out the door.

She came to a stop at the base of the mast and looked up, “What do you see?!”

“Three large ships!” the spotter yelled down, “Too far to tell what they are.”

Theo felt a lump form in her throat. She spun around quickly to try and find Xyra but couldn’t find her out on the deck.

“Someone get Xyra!” She yelled and ran up to the helm, “Man your stations! We are setting course for Niveal a little early, girls!”

“Captain, they might be a merchant fleet. Or a noble family with coins aboard. We can lie in wait here and ambush them,” Yori, one of her sailors suggested.

“If it’s a fleet and they are carrying something that important we can’t risk our ship against three fully armed ships,” Theo replied.

“What if they aren’t heavily armed?” Yori asked.

“Then whatever is on those ships is not worth anything. To your station, Yori,” Theo said.

Xyra finally emerged onto the deck and ran up to the helm, “What is it?”

“Three ships on the horizon,” Theo said and Xyra’s face dropped.

Vaith.

Vaith was a member of the council of nobles that ran Baethos. Whenever a council member would travel, they would travel aboard a fleet made up of the biggest and most armed ships that had ever sailed the Baethian seas. The official name for the ships was called light-bringers and each council member never sailed with less than three at a time. What looked like big bountiful merchant ships to the crew were the deadliest naval ships known to man. They knew they had to get out there as quickly as possible before the ships were close enough to be identified. If the pirates found out any council member was this nearby they would call for their head.

“What are we waiting for?!” Xyra turned around to the crew on the deck, “The captain said to set a course for Niveal. Why isn’t the anchor being lifted? Go, go, go!”

The crew jumped into action and soon enough the anchor had been lifted, the sails had unfurled and they were catching the wind. Once the island was far behind them and the sun was high in the air, she decided to leave the crew to it. She walked into her room but before she could lay in bed and just take a nice relaxing nap, she was interrupted once again. Navi and Cooker stood in her room with their arms crossed.

“What is it you know?” Cooker asked.

“What are you talking about?” Theo acted dumb.

“Three unidentified ships on the horizon and you don’t even hesitate before giving the order we have to go. No waiting till they got closer or hiding, then trailing to see what they were up to. Nothing,” Navi confronted her with the facts.

“Listen, I just wanted us to get on our way to Niveal after two successful missions. We need to enjoy it,” Theo said, echoing what Navi had said before.

“Choose how you continue to answer these questions wisely, Captain, because I will not tolerate lying. Not between us. Not when you’ve promised to be honest with me, always,” Cooker accused.

Xyra, who had walked into the room shortly after everyone else had, cleared her throat, “Theo… We need to tell them.”

“Those ships are light-bringers,” Theo confessed.

Navi was fuming and Cooker looked like she was about to pounce. If this was their reaction with barely any context, Theo wasn’t looking forward to the rest.

“And please do tell, whose fucking light are they bringing?” Navi questioned.

Theo took a deep breath, “Lord Umbar Vaith.”

“Turn this fucking ship around!” Navi yelled and rushed towards the door.

Xyra caught her and kept her from going outside, “Navi, please. Just listen.”

Navi struggled against Xyra but Xyra didn’t let up. After figuring out she was going to be forced to listen, she stopped fussing and opting to stew in silence. Xyra let go of Navi and went back to guarding the door, she didn’t put it past Navi to rush the door again.

“Norhan had the lead… He had the lead and he didn’t tell me about it. I had to find it out through Rob and Unil,” Theo explained, starting at the beginning, “Which led me to think why he wouldn’t share it with me.”

“Cause men can’t be trusted,” Cooker retorted.

“Because he was afraid I would make a hot-headed decision and lead us all into a suicide mission. I knew if I told you all, the crew would put it up to a vote and we would have to pursue him. With no supplies and one ship, how far do you think we would have gotten?” Theo tried reasoning with them.

“You lied to us. You kept the biggest lead and the closest chance we’ve had to get Vaith a secret and failed to give us a say in your decision,” Cooker restated.

“Yes. Yes, I did and I will never stop being sorry. It was killing me inside. You have to, believe me, it was the last thing I wanted to do. I thought about it long and hard,” Theo explained.

“You didn’t think it through because if you had, you wouldn’t have kept this from us! From me!” Navi yelled, “On his orders, the military arrested or killed every man in our village. They took my father from me!”

Theo slammed her hand on the desk, “Vaith killed my entire family in cold blood! Right in front of my eyes, Navi! I know the pain that man has caused. It took everything in me not to go after him too. It killed me to not share this with you!”

“Bullshit!” Navi slammed her hands on the desk too, leaning it to be face to face with Theo.

“Enough!” Xyra exclaimed, “I won’t sit here and listen to you act as if she’s a villain and not someone who just made a mistake. I have watched her be in agony over this. She put her crew before herself. Put aside your anger for just one second and understand why we did it. This would have sent everyone to their deaths and for what? To not even get close to him. If we stick to the plan we’ve always had and build up a fleet, he can be defeated.”

The tension could be cut with a knife. Navi and Theo were in a staredown, both leaning over the desk. Cooker looked between both of them and walked over to Navi. Cooker gently grabbed the back of Navi’s arm and pulled her away. She leaned in and whispered something in Navi’s ear to calm her down, Theo did not want to ask what it was.

Navi looked at Xyra then at Theo, “You need to come clean.”

“I was always planning on telling them,” Theo reiterated.

“Don’t tell them until nightfall. That way it would be impossible to go back for Vaith,” Navi advised before leaving.

Navi had seen their logic but she was still angry, and with good reason. Revenge for her father had been what drove her to join a pirate crew and eventually sail under Theo’s flag. Having the man who took her father only a few hours away was probably killing her. In the end, Navi had done what Theo did and put aside the personal for the sake of the crew. Cooker stayed in the office, dead silent and unmoving.

“Cooker?” Theo tried.

“I would advise you to not speak while I’m trying to find the words to say to you right now,” Cooker said in a strained voice.

They were still standing and they stood there for a while. Cooker opened her mouth to start something many times but nothing came out. Finally, she found out what she wanted to know.

“Why did you tell Xyra and not me?” Cooker asked.

Theo’s heart ached at having to give that answer. Of everything that Cooker could have said, this was not what Theo was expecting and it hurt her even more than she thought it could. Xyra and Theo had met two lengths before they met Cooker and even though they had all been inseparable for 10 lengths, growing up Cooker felt alienated sometimes. The two lengths before Cooker came along had given Theo and Xyra a bond that Cooker could not match with either of them. Up until that point though, it had never been a problem. Xyra and Theo included Cooker in every decision they made. They shared every adventure, every high and every low up until now.

“Cooker… I don’t know,” Theo said.

“Well, think. Cause there is a fucking reason you spent over a cycle sitting on this information while Xyra knew and not me,” Cooker was making this difficult.

“Because you would have wanted to tell the others,” Xyra stepped in, “If Theo won’t say it, I will.”

“So my morality cost me a seat at the table?”

“It wasn’t something that we actively discussed, Cooker. It was just unspoken,” Theo tried.

“And now, I’m not even worth the discussion,” Cooker scoffed.

“Cooker I am sorry,” Theo pleaded. She wanted her to see her side. Cooker had every right to be mad but Theo wished the world was not like that and Cooker had to forgive her.

“I want to remind you, Theo, after I rejected a position on the ship’s command and you asked me to still stay involved in the politics of it all and be an advisor to you, I asked only one thing. I wanted the transparency your first mate would get and you made that concession. If you would have told me about Vaith I would’ve helped you convince the girls that it wasn’t in our best interest to attack. I would’ve convinced them to keep this under the radar and that you were right. Instead, because either you couldn’t bother to think of me or because when you did you thought I was too moral to trust you dug yourselves a hole.

So before I leave, let’s get this situation clear. I have fought by your side for ten lengths, I have advised you for four, I have been loyal to you and my duty to tell you what I think is right and wrong without a fault. A cycle ago, when you discovered life-changing information you chose to share it with Xyra and no one else, not even me, directly breaking your promise. To make matters worse, when confronted about it you lied twice. Twice. So when I say this it’s not to Captain Theo, but to my friend. Fuck.You.” Cooker finished, her cool tone not raising once during her whole speech.

She turned around and walked calmly to the door but Xyra was standing in her way, “Cooker…”

“Fuck you too, Xyra” Cooker scoffed and pushed past Xyra, “I’ll see you both at the assembly after dinnertime.

Cooker walked out, slamming the room door behind her. Theo was left stunned, the iciness of Cooker’s tone was chilling and Theo knew she had a lot of making up to do.

\----------------------

The women in the kitchen during dinner were moaning and groaning about yet another assembly but they all made it out onto the deck after being rounded up. Theo stood on the upper deck with Xyra on her right-hand side, as always. Ava had been looking forward to the assembly ever since it was announced, it was going to be her first one not as a passenger and she was ready. Theo wasted no time in beginning her address, starting with a story about what happened in The Twins. Ava quickly realized that Theo was coming clean. The assembly was about the lead Theo had been upset about. The one she had been told about that night on the deck and asked to keep a secret.

“The lead let us know that there would be a councilman traveling these waters. Those were the ships you say earlier, three light-bringers,” Theo explained and watched the reactions of confusion among the crew, “The ships were carrying Lord Vaith.”

The suspense had been building and when Theo uttered the name, the crowd erupted in protest. Ava heard the crowd shoutout curses to his name, she heard them yelling the names of tragedies he and other councilmen were involved with. Theo let them all air out their waves of anger, taking all the words that were thrown at her. She began to explain to the crew why she kept this information from them but Ava was paying no attention anymore. She was still processing it all. The person Theo and her whole crew hated the most in the world was Umbar Vaith. She felt sick to her stomach.

She felt her vision start to close in and a panic began to rise in her chest. Between the emotions from the sun before and getting a ton of brick dropped on her at the assembly, she felt like she couldn’t breathe. She just wanted to get out of the crowd, so she did. She began to squirm through the crowd until she was able to slip into the lower decks. She wanted to go to her room but she remembered she didn’t even have one. She had a hammock with no privacy on a floor that would be flooded with gossiping people within minutes.

Ava figured the library was the best place and made a beeline for it. She shut the door behind her and sat in her chair, bringing her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. The door opened after she got in and she was about to yell at the person to get out. Relief washed over her. If anyone would be able to help her, it was Cooker. Cooker had seen Ava in distress at the assembly and followed her to the library.

“Get me off this boat, please,” Ava asked as soon as Cooker got in.

Cooker locked the door and found a seat, “You okay? Do you need to talk about it?”

Ava fiercely shook her head no, “You wouldn’t understand it.”

“Try me,” Cooker tried persuading her.

“No. You wouldn’t get it. You wouldn’t be able to understand,” Ava said, panic rising in her voice, “I’m trapped. I’m against a wall. I need to go.”

“It’ll be okay, Ava,” Cooker said trying to calm her down.

“You don’t know that,” Ava said and began to fidget with her hands, “I killed someone and now I’m an actual criminal. I’m an outlaw now and I don’t belong on this boat and now I’ve got nowhere else to go.”

“You belong on this boat, Ava,” Cooker said and walked over before crouching in front of Ava.

“I don’t. I don’t. You don’t understand, I can’t be on this ship anymore,” Ava tried to get Cooker to see, “My family has done horrible things.”

“My family has too but that doesn’t define you. You had no say in their activities. You are reading every sun and hoping to make yourself better than they were. You don’t have to pay for their crimes,” Cooker tried.

“You don’t understand,” Ava repeated, like a robot.

“Ava. I do understand. I understand more than you know,” Cooker tried to get through to Ava without having to speak the words but Ava wasn’t getting it.

“I need to get off this boat! I am not safe here,” Ava shouted, her frustration level getting higher as her panic began to rise.

“You are safe. I won’t let anything happen to you,” Cooker promised.

“Stop! You can’t promise anything! You don’t know what I’m talking about,” Ava yelled.

“I know exactly what you’re talking about! Get the hint, Ava,” Cooker shouted back.

“What do you mean?” Ava said, lower tone now but the panic was still present.

“My name is Carrie Cooker,” she said, “I know who you are.”

Ava’s mouth dropped open and she felt about three seconds from passing out. Her ears started to ring, there was no way she had heard that correctly. Cooker put her hand on Ava’s shoulder but the silence in the room was pertinent. Ava was shocked, her head was empty. Her head couldn’t battle the confusion and fear she felt at that moment. Cooker had the feeling that Ava was not going to begin talking anytime soon so she filled the space.

“You are Lord Umbar Vaith’s youngest daughter. Your name is Avery Vaith.”

“Why do you look so down, Red?” Morgana asked. 

Ava considered lying but the words just flowed out, “Why are we locked away drinking the crew’s alcohol. I thought to never steal from the ship was one of your rules or something?” 

All of them laughed at her before Morgana handed her the bottle. 

“It’s mine. I hide it around the ship just in case someone tried to come into my room to take it. We are locked away in here because if anyone else sees us then the whole crew will want some. We are on rations of alcohol and no one is too happy about that so they’d expect a share,” Cooker explained. 

“Which means less for us, stop being uptight. You’re a pirate now,” Morgana said. 

Morgana was right. Pirates broke rules, they hid away to drink secret liquor, they got sloppy. She put the bottle to her mouth and took a large sip. It was disgusting and the liquid burned her throat. She quickly passed it to Iona and willed herself to hold it down. 

“Oi, rich girl, you’re probably going to want to eat that food before you drink anymore,” Oceane said. 

“Let’s lay off her with the rich girl thing? She’s on her way to be a pirate now, she’s left that behind,” Cooker stood up for Ava. 

Ava’s stomach was filled with butterflies at those words. She had left that world behind now. She was going to become a pirate. It somehow was all just catching up to her right now and she sat back in her chair in silence. It hadn’t even been 100 suns since she had left her home but she had come so far. She would have never imagined ending up where she was at that moment, drinking nasty liquor on a pirate ship with her soon to be crewmates. She opened her handkerchief and began to eat the small amount of food they had saved for her. 

By the time the bottle had come back around to her, she had finished eating. She grabbed the bottle and took not one but two sips at that time. She was going to dive into pirate culture headfirst, getting drunk with the crew. She had had drinks on the ship before but by the time the third round had passed she was drunker than she ever had been. She had in truth not been listening to anything they had been. She tuned in and picked up that the conversation was about weapons. She had no idea about anything they were referencing but she tried to keep up. She preferred to sit out of the conversation, either way, enjoying just experiencing what the others were like. 

“Did you hear about what they’re cooking up down in the south of the Island?” Iona asked after she had taken a sip of the bottle. 

“The fucking little tiny cannon things?” Morgana excitedly asked. 

“The what?” Oceane raised an eyebrow. 

“Right so those little geniuses down in Dove Island have been trying to create somewhat of a cannon but for a handheld weapon. Powder, little metal ball, and you pull a trigger to release it,” Iona explained making hand gestures to help explain what she meant. 

“So a machine that allows you to instantly kill an enemy from a far distance? That sounds incredibly safe and ethical to put into the hands of the army and just anyone who can afford it,” Cooker chimed in. 

“It’s not like it would be around anytime soon. But if they could ever do something like that, I’d want one,” Morgana said. 

“You can’t shoot an arrow, what makes you think you could shoot and aim with that?” Oceane asked with a smirk on her face. If there was one thing Oceane could do better than Morgana was shoot. 

“It’s not like the ability to shoot has anything to do with being on the vanguard,” Morgana challenged. 

“Oh fuck you,” Oceane said and raised her middle finger. 

“Listen, in all honesty, I’m sorry Theo took you off. I’m not sure what the reason is,” Morgana admitted, feeling guilty at poking fun at a sore subject. 

“Aye, I’ve got no clue what that was about. A lot on the table and she pulls Oceane off of the vanguard?” Cooker added. 

“I know what it’s about,” Iona said and everyone turned to look at her, “They’re testing you, Oceane.”

“What? Testing me?”

“Aye, think about it. For the past length, we’ve been talking about recruiting and expanding and being one of the crews that have a whole fleet. You need people to run your fleet and Theo’s got an inner circle fit for the expansion,” Iona tried making her case. 

“There are plenty of people she can pick from. It feels like a punishment but I don’t feel like I did anything wrong,” Oceane confessed. 

“Because you haven’t. Listen, each ship that gets added to the fleet will need someone to navigate it, someone to run it, and someone to lead it. Cooker, Mor, Navi, Xyra they’ve all proved themselves through time. They’ve been with her longer than anyone here,” Iona said. 

“Aye, that’s true,” Morgana interrupted. 

“You, me and Pearl are new compared to the others. We’ve been here for lengths but we’ve never been tested like this. It was only a matter of time. You’re great on the vanguard but you’ve got strategic skill. Pearl can navigate so it would make no sense to choose her for this job and I’m no good at strategy.” Iona finished.

“That would make sense,” Cooker argued, “Xyra’s guaranteed to lead on whatever the next ship is. That means both of them are going to need a second in command. There’s no way in hell Morgana would give up leading the vanguard and Tuni is our healer. That leaves Pearl and you two. If there isn’t anything to be punished for then I guess this is a good thing.” 

Oceane’s demeanor shifted a bit and she seemed to be in a lighter mood than earlier. The words had gotten to her and she was feeling proud that she was picked. It was all speculation but a test made more sense than being punished. Ava was happy for Oceane. She hadn’t understood much about the conversation but she had gathered that Oceane was given another duty and taken off the vanguard for the raid. 

“Can I have the bottle?” Ava outstretched her hand.

Cooker handed it to her, “What did Theo tell you about the whole pirate thing?” 

“Nothing much. She said I couldn’t start training until after the raid and that I had to move to the lower deck,” Ava answered before drinking from the bottle. She was starting to feel very intoxicated and her thoughts were clouded. 

“So you’re in? Well done, rich girl,” Oceane teased, “I knew I sensed pirate in you the second you picked up a dagger.” 

“It’s only a matter of time before you’re in the inner circle too by the looks of it,” Iona wiggled her eyebrows. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ava asked. 

“Just saying. Theo’s gotten mighty close to you these past few cycles,” Oceane tagged along, “Cap doesn’t just sit and talk for hours with anyone. Last person she did that with was Pearl about two lengths ago and look at her now, studying under Navi and attending meetings.” 

Ava hadn’t realized that. She felt her cheeks go red with colors although she wasn’t sure why. She figured Theo was being nice or using her for company. Ava had assumed that when she became a pirate she would be rejected by the friends she had made. She thought it was some unspoken social rule that she would be kicked to the bottom of the pack but it didn’t seem to be that way. They had woken her up, invited her to drink and were having what seemed to be very serious conversations with her present. 

“Is that a bad thing? Like, are the others going to resent me for that?” Ava asked. She was worried if being a new pirate didn’t make her to social outcast than being the captain’s pet would. 

“For me, if Theo likes you then I like you,” Iona explained, “and everyone on the ship feels that way. If anyone here wanted Theo’s attention they could just ask her for it. Someone else getting it doesn’t make anyone feel bad.” 

Ava might have been drunk but what Iona was saying didn’t make sense. Jealousy and plots to get ahead were the norms where she was from. No one could have anything without being judged. Here, on a pirate ship of all places, the attitude was live and let live. Everyone did their own thing and could interact with anyone. She knew that already but she had assumed things would change when she chose to stay. Like she was waiting for the shoe to drop. 

“Look, Red,” Morgana said, taking the bottle from her hands, “As far as we are concerned, you’re one of us now. No one cares what you do as long as it doesn’t fuck the crew. Those are the simple rules of being a pirate, protect your sisters and your captain. This next round is a toast to you. Congrats!” 

The bottle got passed around and each of the girls raised it when it was their turn and made a toast. Oceane talked about how she hoped to train with Ava more. Morgana toasted to what was gearing up to be a great friendship. Cooker toasted Ava being able to learn more with Cooker by her side and Iona toasted to a new crew member and someone new to talk about rumors with. 

Ava heard Iona’s toast and perked up. If Iona was the most updated on the rumor mill then maybe Ava could ask her what had been on her mind forever. For the entire voyage, she couldn’t help but notice how close Xyra and Theo were. It seemed to Ava that they were sleeping in the same room every night. Most suns at dinner, Xyra and Theo would sit close to each other and steal small touches at times. It could have all been innocent, Xyra was Theo’s first mate and they were close. But Ava couldn’t help but wonder. If she hadn’t been drunk maybe the words would have never been spoken but Ava wanted to know. 

“Iona, are Theo and Xyra together? Not like friends together but like as nox,” Ava asked, a hiccup escaping her mouth, “Oops.”

All of the girls stared at her without answering. They looked between each other and for what felt like the millionth time that night began laughing at her question. Ava took that as a no.

“Everyone who comes on board eventually always asks the same thing, Red. Don’t get embarrassed,” Morgana said after she had calmed down. 

“They’re always together, they sleep together, they’re always touching,” Ava listed. 

“No, they aren’t together. They haven’t ever been either if you were wondering that too,” Cooker offered, proving once again to be the only helpful one. “They’ve been together since they were kids. Before any of us, it was Xyra and Theo. That’s just the way they are.” 

“Why, are you interested?” Morgana teased and wiggled her eyebrows. 

Ava laughed and shook her head, “‘Course not. I’m not a nox.”

“How do you know, have you ever tried?” Oceane asked and Ava shook her head. 

“Do you like being with men?” Iona piggybacked off Oceane. 

“Wouldn’t know,” Ava answered honestly. Sober Ava would have not answered these questions. Scratch that, sober Ava would not have put herself in this position.

“Wait, you’ve never been with anyone before?” Morgana asked her expression one of shock.  
Ava looked around the room. She got the feeling that she was the only one in here without any experience. She had already told the truth and there was no going back on it, she hadn’t been with anyone. 

“Never,” Ava admitted. 

“How old are you?” Oceane asked.

“16” 

“And you’ve never?” Cooker asked again. The answer was no and she knew that but it was so shocking to her. 

“It’s just never come up I guess,” Ava shrugged her shoulders. 

The girls in the room exchanged a look and Ava could not figure out what it meant. For some reason, they stopped talking about Ava and her lack of experience. Not that Ava was complaining, she was starting to get uncomfortable with all of the attention on her. She couldn’t explain why she had never been with a man before but she just hadn’t. She had a penchant for sneaking out so by the time she would have been old enough to sneak out and look for that there were extreme measures in place to keep her in. She did not want to risk finding someone she liked just to be married off to someone else. Plus, she had no desire to go searching for a man to be with. It wasn’t something she wanted to explain to the group so she was happy when they moved on. 

For a few more hours they sat and drank. Ava was far too drunk to walk back alone and she was glad she didn’t have to. Iona and Oceane, who slept on the lower decks, escorted her back to her hammock and made sure she got in okay. They exchanged their goodnights and she slipped into alcohol-fueled dreams of being a pirate and fighting over a treasure.

\--------------------------------------------------------

Theo spent most of the suns leading up to the raid preparing for it. If she wasn’t with the smiths helping with weapons she was up top helping Navi sail and reach the necessary speeds to cut some time off the journey. She felt as if she blinked and they had arrived. Theo got practically no rest the whole time at sea, the suns she had off were spent in her room worrying about changes to the plans. She made an effort to not hole herself up though. She stayed for dinner and spent her nights out on the deck with the crew drinking. 

Xyra and her had practically stopped speaking unless it concerned the ship or the raid. Xyra had also stopped coming by at night and Theo couldn’t blame her. Not only had Theo inserted herself into a situation that didn’t concern her, but she also did it without tact. Further, she also confirmed to Xyra that she slept with Navi. The night before they were due to arrive at the island, the pirates gathered to party on the deck once again. On the deck, Theo caught Xyra during a moment alone. Xyra moved away from Theo. 

Theo grabbed Xyra’s arm, “Xyrabellis, will you talk to me please?” 

Xyra looked back at Theo, “I have nothing to say, Theo.”

“No, but I do.”

Xyra pulled her arm away and turned to face Theo, “What is it then?”

“I’m sorry. I know you said there’s nothing to apologize for but we both know that’s bullshit. You’re my right hand, I shouldn’t have made you talk about it like that. I can’t even begin to understand what you’re going through.” Theo conceded and Xyra’s facial features softened. 

Xyra hated it but she had a soft spot for Theo. Whenever she would apologize, the genuineness always made Xyra’s anger melt away. She knew Theo had been thinking about it since they had argued. Xyra also could admit that she gave the silent treatment for so long to let Theo stew in her sorriness. Xyra couldn’t give in right then though, she needed Theo to grovel some more and Theo knew it. Theo sleeping with Navi was a line that was crossed that shouldn’t have been. They had slept together in the past but that was before Xyra and Navi were ever involved. 

“I don’t know what I was thinking when I slept with her, Xy. There’s no excuse though and I made that decision without thinking of the consequences. I will be forever sorry,” Theo pleaded. 

“I’m not accepting your apology. I never will. You were selfish for that Theo. There are 40 women on this boat and you had to choose her…” Xyra sighed, “But I’m done being mad at you. I don’t like it and we’re too close to the raid to let some personal things get in the way.”

Theo nodded and rubbed the back of her neck, “I know it’s not your problem but… I haven’t been able to sleep lately. If you want to come to my room later it’ll be open.” 

Xyra wanted to get one last petty thing in before she dropped the issue. She wanted to just say no and that it wasn’t her problem. Instead, she just shrugged and walked away, knowing she would eventually find her way into Theo’s room. Xyra couldn’t help it she knew Theo too well to leave her to try and sleep by herself. It was the night before a raid that their whole lives were riding on and Theo would most likely not be able to sleep without her there. Theo had always been a fussy sleep when they were kids and it wasn’t something she grew out of. Xyra figured out over time that if she was near Theo or had her arms wrapped around her that Theo would sleep marginally better. Xyra didn’t understand it but she did it anyway. Nights before big events, like the upcoming, raid they usually slept in the same bed. 

Xyra waited on deck until Theo retired to her room. Xyra wasn’t going to give Theo what she wanted so easily though. First, Theo would have to face whatever had been making her so distant in the past cycle. Xyra was cornered by Theo and now she was going to flip the table. She followed Theo shortly after and sat on Theo’s desk. Theo, who had gotten into bed was trying to hold back a smile. 

“You came,” Theo stated obviously.

“Aye but I’m not so sure you’re going to be thankful when we are done here,” Xyra mused. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Theo groaned and pulled her sheet over her head. 

“Means we are going to get to the bottom of your sleeplessness. What’s been bothering you?” Xyra asked. 

“Xyra listen, I told you I’d come to talk to you when I was ready,” she said from under the blanket  
“If I left it up to you that would be never,” Xyra called out. 

There was a pause before Theo’s voice returned. She spoke so softly that Xyra almost did not catch it from the muffle of the blanket, “I just don’t want you to lose faith in my ability to be Captain.” 

Xyra could sense the vulnerability of Theo’s statement despite the Captain being underneath her sheets. She knew it was spoken from the heart and Xyra’s stomach was in a pit. Her best friend, the person she trusted most, didn’t want to open up out of fear that Xyra would think less of her. 

“You are my Captain. I chose you and I will continue to choose you to be my Captain for all my suns, Theo. Nothing you say or do will make me think you’ve lost the ability to bring greatness to this crew,” Xyra said, feeling dumb for speaking so highly about someone that was not emerging from their blanket fortress. 

“Fine. What do you want from me?”

“First, I want you to take the blanket off. Then I want you to talk to me about what is going on with you.”

“Take your pick!” Theo said, still from underneath the blanket, “An upcoming mission that if we fail we either die from a noose or die from starvation, my mortal enemy is probably only two suns away from us and I can’t do anything about it, or I’m keeping a secret from my crew which I have only done one other time in my whole time as Captain.” 

Xyra walked over to the bed and pulled the blanket off of Theo, “I know your issues but I need you to get to the root of your problems. We’ve been at the edge between life and death many times before and it hasn’t affected you like this.” 

“I can’t even begin to formulate the emotions into words, Xyra. Neither of us is good at that and you know it.” 

“I know but you’re going to have to. If you are not rested tomorrow and you’re in your head this mission could fail. I need you to dig deep here, what is different about this mission than any other one?” Xyra pushed. 

“Nothing. It’s not the mission, it's me. I’ve just been worrying about the crew. I’ve heard so many times that the crew made a decision to be here and it’s not my responsibility to keep them alive but it is. I just can’t shake the thought of bringing death upon all of us. I know that’s the life we chose to live and tragedy will inevitably strike but I can’t help but feel responsible for it all.” Theo admitted and she felt a weight lift off of her chest. 

“Your job is to do everything you can to make sure that when we engage in risky things that we have covered all of our possible options. That we’ve been smart and calculated the risks. That we make money and stick to our goals,” Xyra sat in bed next to Theo. 

There was more hanging in the air that needed to be said and Theo just jumped straight back into it.  
“And this secret, Xy. It’s killing me… You know how hard it is to look at Cooker right now and know I’m lying to her? She told me when she said she didn’t want a job in the ship’s command that it didn’t mean she wanted to be left out of decisions. I promised her that would never happen. I never thought a time would come that I would lie to my crew about Vaith and here I am. The more I think about it the more guilty I become but also, the more resentment builds. I’m suffering through this secret because they wouldn’t have the clarity to see it’s a suicide mission.” Theo ranted. 

Part of Theo’s mission as a captain was to be as fair and as open with her crew as possible. She had never kept a controversial lead from her crew. She always presented it and left it to a vote. This was the first time Theo had kept a lead to herself and the second time in the 2,000 suns she was a captain that she had kept a secret. It was truly bothering Theo and Xyra could see just how much. Xyra had seen Theo do all kinds of things that could make a grown man sick but keeping a secret from the crew is where Theo drew the line at. 

Xyra was stunned silent. There was a lot to unpack with what Theo had just dumped on her lap but that was the point of this, get Theo talking. A lot of what Theo said was burdening and it was no wonder Theo had been withdrawn in the recent suns. Theo was staring at Xyra waiting for a response but Xyra was still processing. There was no correct place to start to Xyra cleared her throat and tried to talk Theo through her emotions. 

“Resentment?” Xyra asked. 

“Not resentment, I guess it’s just anger. It’s a flash and then it goes away. They’re not to blame, if I was in their position I would demand his head no matter the cost. I don’t resent them for it… I’m angry that they are making me keep this secret and they don’t even know it.” Theo admitted. She would never harbor feelings of ill will towards her crew but she also hated keeping this secret. 

“If keeping this to yourself is tearing you up that badly, we can tell them in a few suns. When this whole thing is over and we are on our way to Efriti we can tell them all about Vaith. They’ll be mad but they’ll understand,” Xyra offered and Theo nodded, that was a better idea than never saying anything.

“Yeah… Once this whole thing is behind us and we’re done with the raid I’ll tell the crew,” Theo planned. 

“Good… That’s settled. But can we talk about what’s really bothering you? Vaith. You’ve been different these past weeks and it’s not just stress or the secret,” Xyra said softly, hoping Theo would see how even small changes in her behavior alerted the crew and others to something being wrong.

“What about him. He’s near and we can't get to him,” Theo shrugged, waiting for this part of the conversation to just blow over. 

“Right, and how is that affecting you, Theo?” Xyra pressed, hoping Theo reflected in on herself. 

“I'm done with talking now, Xy. For real now.”

“Let it out.” 

“I said, no! It’s stupid and I won’t speak about this any longer,” Theo said again. 

“Remember when we used to be on vanguard on Captain Rooley’s ship? How every night before a big raid you would have to go through every step of the plan with me three times,” Xyra reminisced. 

“Yes, it was the only way to keep you calm,” Theo said. 

“That was stupid. I would even freak out over missions that had no risk to them at all but you were there to calm me down every time. No matter how silly or trivial, you were there. Now, let me do that for you. It’s been you and me since the beginning, Theo. I know you better than I know myself, let me help you through these things,” Xyra was begging and Theo knew it. 

It wasn’t in a begging tone but Theo knew that Xyra was stressed out over Theo’s stress. Theo had to admit that talking the little that she had talked did indeed lift a burden off her shoulders. Talking it through with Xyra wasn’t that difficult and the long term benefits outweighed the discomfort of confronting her own emotions. 

“I feel like I’m failing everyone by not going after him. For not even trying, “ she admitted. 

“Who would you be failing?” 

“My parents, my crew, everyone Vaith has ever hurt,” Theo admitted quietly.

Xyra walked away from her spot beside Theo and opened up a draw on the bottom of her desk. Xyra pulled out a thick book wrapped in leather. She flipped through the pages until she found what she was looking for. 

“I’ve been keeping a ledger of the services we provide through the Scorned Woman. I update them every few cycles if there are significant changes to be recording. I don’t tell you about it because you’ve always said it wasn’t about how many people we helped, that even one mattered but I want to show you now,” Xyra said walking back over to Theo.

“Xy… This isn’t necessary,” Theo said. She truly wasn’t a number person and she wasn’t even sure what the point of all of it was. 

“In the four lengths since its operation, the Scorned Woman and its crew have been responsible for transporting over 650 women safely to their destination. These women ranged from victims of violence, unhappy marriages, young runaways, and mothers fleeing with their families. This was all done at no cost to them. A total of 210 women have been a part of your crew throughout time and of those 210, 190 had sent remittances home at some point on board. A total of 36, 569 gold coins have been sent back to local economies as of three cycles ago. There are a total of 92 aboveground and underground brothels operating out of major port cities and you have more than half of them reporting to you. If we say that each brothel averages 30 women then that is over 1,200 women that are under your protection. You’re not failing your family or us by turning away from this mission. You’d be failing everyone if you didn’t. The world needs this ship. Women need this ship.” 

Theo was floored. She had nothing to respond to Xyra with. Tears had formed in Theo’s eyes hearing what Xyra was reading and she wrapped her arms around Xyra. They hugged for a moment before Theo pulled away. 

“Thank you. Truly,” Theo said. 

She got up from the bed, went to her desk and pulled out the jerky she stored in there. All tension and concerns in the room fled and just as quickly as Theo had opened up she had switched back into carefree Theo. Xyra rolled her eyes but smiled anyway. Progress had been made and Theo looked better already. As quickly as the conversation had come up, it had ended.  
\---------------------------

The morning before the raid was a blur. Theo woke up to violent knocking on her door, it was Morgana with an updated list of who she was taking on the vanguard. Theo grabbed the list from Morgana and gave it to Xyra who was on the bed. Theo yawned and stretched out her arms as she walked over to the desk. Xyra rubbed her eyes and sat up in bed blinking to adjust to the light. She began to read the list. 

“Wizer’s on here,” Xyra pointed out.

“You can’t take Wizer. She’s on cannons with Oceane,” Theo said. 

“I need Wizer. She knows how to pay attention to commands,” Morgana crossed her arms, “Make Jocasta be on cannons.” 

“Jocasta is with Tuni helping her carry all her medicine,” Theo said. 

“Tuni can take Ava,” Morgana suggested. 

“Absolutely not,” Xyra said, “We are not putting her in the middle of a fight like that with no training.” 

“She has training. Plus, she and Tuni would be far enough from the fight that they won’t get hurt,” Morgana argued, “Their job wouldn’t start until after the danger passes.” 

“And if we fail our attack and they are captured?” Theo asked. 

“They die,” Xyra answered for Morgana.

“Aye but if we fail the land attack then we fail the mission as a whole and you lot die of starvation anyway. There is death either way but with Wizer with us, there is less of a chance of it going down that road.” 

Xyra and Morgana both looked over at Theo for a decision. She wanted to shut Morgana down but it wasn’t all too bad of an idea. The ship, where Ava would be staying, could potentially be more dangerous than carrying some supplies on land. Plus, Wizer’s help would be beneficial and Jocasta could use the training on operating the cannons. 

“Ava has to agree. If she doesn’t, the vanguard will have to do without Wizer,” Theo ruled.  
Morgana took her win and walked away, presumably to find Ava. Xyra sat on the edge of the desk and took a deep breath. They both sat in comfortable silence knowing that it would be the last calm moment for a while. It was only a matter of time before the crew would begin waking up and last-minute preparations were made. They planned to have the vanguard on land a few hours before sunset to trek inland to the camp and wait until nightfall. Once nighttime, Xyra would sail the ship to the Southside of the Island and sink the ship that was reportedly in the bay and the vanguard would attack camp before securing the merchandise. 

Theo got up and went to her wardrobe to sort through what she was going to wear to the fight. Xyra watched her trying to hold back a sarcastic comment. Theo never wore the same thing twice during a fight and she always made sure she was presentable. She would pick out nice clothes that were expensive knowing they would just have to be thrown out after the fight. Xyra would never understand it but Theo insisted on it. It’s either my funeral or theirs and it’s only right to dress for the occasion she would say.

Once dressed, Theo and Xyra went over the plan one last time to make sure they had everything under control. Theo went out on the deck while Xyra stayed back. Morgana came to her side to inform her that Ava had enthusiastically accepted to go with Tuni. Theo thanked her and instructed her to go let Jocasta and Wizer know of their new stations. Theo herself went to check up on the rest of the girls in her ‘inner circle’ to make sure they had the manpower, supplies, and plans ready to go. Everything had to go as close to the plan as possible if they wanted to succeed and Theo was going to make damned sure that everyone had what they needed. 

By the time she had a moment to breathe, land was quickly approaching and the vanguard was gearing up to be taken to land. Theo marched to her cabin and put on her Captain’s coat, her hat, and grabbed her sword. She walked to her desk and strapped a dagger to her leg. Standing alone in her room she took a second to clear her head. Theo closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and willed herself to be calm. She chased out any stray thoughts out of her head and focused on the mission ahead. Once she was ready she rejoined the crew on the deck. 

Morgana looked around to make sure all of the vanguard was ready before calling out that they were ready to board the boats to be rowed to shore. Morgana was the lead on the vanguard. She made sure the women were organized, came up with a strategy and was the point person if things went wrong. On other crews, if the Captain accompanies the vanguard, they became the lead but Theo didn’t believe in that method. She knew she could be more helpful as a fighter than leading it and she was so used to giving commands all the time, it was healthy to let someone else do it. Also, Morgana did not have the same responsibility over the crew that Theo did and that allowed her to make riskier moves as well. 

Theo waited for everyone to climb over the ship and into the boats before she made her way to the edge too. Xyra was waiting there for her and Theo put her hand on Xyra’s shoulder when she got close enough. 

“If I don’t make it back, ship’s yours,” Theo said as she did before every dangerous mission. 

Xyra simply nodded and put her hand over Theo’s, “Careful out there, Captain.”

Theo climbed over the side of the ship and dropped down into the awaiting boat. Morgana, Tuni, and Ava were all in her boat. Ava’s expression was one that Theo knew all too well, she also knew the accompanying feelings. Ava was battling between nerves and excitement and her stomach was most likely flipping around. She was spinning her dagger in her hand and tapping her foot against the wooden boat. 

“Red, you’ll be okay,” Morgana reassured her, “If anything goes sideways just remember what I taught you.” 

Ava pointed to different places on her body, “Side of the neck, base of the neck, liver, armpit.”  
“Exactly, you’re a natural killer,” Morgana said. 

Theo laughed at that, “Let’s try and avoid having to kill someone for as long as possible.”  
“It’s not at the top of my list of things to do, don’t worry,” Ava said in response and put her dagger away.

The rest of the boat ride was spent in silence interrupted with short attempts at small talk by Tuni. No one was in the mood to talk though; Ava was too nervous, Theo was too focused, and Morgana’s head seemed to be in the clouds. To Theo, it felt as if they were never going to get off but eventually their boat touched the sand. She grabbed the edge of the boat and hopped off into the knee-deep water. She touched the ground and took off running towards the cover of the trees. All of them, Ava and Tuni included, followed suit trying to get hidden as quickly as they could. The boats were starting to be rowed back as the vanguard slipped into the jungle.  
The vanguard held a total of 25 women, 2 of which were not fighting. Morgana led the line as they trekked their way through the dense trees and vines. They were as quiet as they could be, cautiously stopping at any noise they heard. There were a lot of them and the risk of being caught was high if that was the case they had all been instructed to flee in a certain direction with a certain group. However, the need never arose. They carefully climbed through the difficult terrain for hours, taking short breaks to hydrate and rest. 

Morgana held her hand up and everyone stopped. She turned to Theo and whispered, “I think this is as far as we should go. Want to go, scout, the camp?” 

Theo agreed and Morgana signaled to Iona to let her know they would be leaving. Once the group was informed Theo and Morgana snuck through the brush. They walked for about ten minutes before finding the first signs of a camp. Theo spotted it first and quickly pulled Morgana behind a large tree. When they were sure no one was around they crept out from behind the tree and advanced further, trying to get a better look at what they were up against. 

The military had cleared a large area in the jungle and set up tents and small wood cabins but besides that, not many strategic advantages were revealed to them. Theo scanned the camp and counted only around 10 men out and about between the tents, not an accurate reading. The visible soldiers were armed with swords but had no form of armor. Men were drinking despite there still being light outside and those she could see looked relaxed. They did not seem to be expecting an attack. There was no way to gauge how big the camp was or how best to attack them while keeping the element of surprise. Morgana shared Theo’s concerns about that.

“We can’t see shit. We’d be going in blind,” Morgana whispered. 

“We can’t go further. We’re just going to have to hope there’s not more than 30 men,” Theo replied. 

“Our girls can take at least 40 men,” Morgana bragged and Theo ignored her, opting to start walking back instead. 

Once they had walked far enough that they could speak more clearly, Theo shared her thoughts. 

“They aren’t expecting us. You saw how they were dressed? Not a piece of armor in sight. We don’t have an accurate map of the camp but we have night time and surprise on our side.”

“Aye, what worries me is when we rush in there we have no idea how many we are up against,” Morgana echoed back Theo’s worries. 

“Running in from the north of the camp alone isn’t smart,” Theo said. 

Morgana was silent for a beat, walking and thinking, “I’ll take some through the North, you take a group through the East of the camp and Iona can take a group through the West. Once the cannons go off they’ll be running to the noise through the South of the camp.”

“That could give us a slight advantage. Catch them from all sides. It works. I think we should get in position as soon as possible though. Sun is setting and those cannons will go off soon.” 

Theo’s trust in Morgana’s ability to lead the vanguard was only strengthened by Morgana’s performance leading time and time again. Once they arrived at camp Morgana made quick work of grouping the women up and sending them to their wait out locations. Theo took the smallest group and headed east while Iona led her group west. 

Morgana informed Ava and Tuni that they were going to start moving again. Tuni and Ava had both found relief from the walking by sitting on a tree root. Ava was exhausted but she wasn’t going to admit it so when they were instructed to leave it took every ounce of willpower not to groan. Sweat was dripping down her back, her clothes sticking to her. The supplies Tuni needed were not heavy but halfway through the trek, they had turned into a pile of stones. They walked in silence, carefully watching out for spiderwebs and critters on the ground. Until they reached the location they needed to stay at to await the signal. 

Morgana quietly shuffled through the women to come up in front of Tuni and take her hands, “Stay back, my love. Please, wait until the fight is over before you come help.”

“I have a duty to heal my crew, Mor. I can’t promise I won’t come in before it’s over,” Tuni whispered back. 

Morgana sighed and squeezed Tuni’s hands and shook her head, “Please be careful.” 

Tuni slipped one of her hands out of Morgana’s and brought it up to rest it on her cheek. Morgana closed the distance between her and her partner and kissed her. They shared a short moment before Morgana bid her farewell and made her way to the front of her group, ready to pounce at a moment’s notice. 

\-----------------------  
There had been three close calls in the time that Theo had been waiting. It seemed that there were two guards on patrol that kept passing by on their rounds around camp. It had been close to five hours since they had been dropped off and the light from the sun was almost gone. Finally, they heard the cannons go off, Xyra had successfully attacked the ship. Or someone had attacked theirs, either way, it was time for her to charge. She drew her sword and gave the order to attack. 

Men were running out of the tents and towards the beach with their swords drawn. With the soldier's backs turned to the rest of the camp, the pirates were in the prime position to launch their surprise attack. Theo instructed the archers to cover the fighters before charging forward into the fight. Some of the soldiers were running towards the beach and others had turned back around to protect the camp. As Theo advanced within the camp she caught sight of the other groups entering as well. So far it was all going to plan. 

A soldier charged at her and she blocked his swing with her sword. She was aggressive in her movements, taking advantage of the lack of time the soldier had to prepare. With ease, she slashed her sword down against his in a way that knocked it out of his hand. She thrust her sword forward and buried it in his stomach. She kicked him off the sword and turned around to meet the next soldier's swing. She had a second to look around and they seemed to be handling it. Some of the soldiers running to the beach meant there were fewer soldiers left at the camp which let Theo’s crew easily cut down the enemy. 

A large man with an ax charged at Theo and she barely ducked out of the way of the first swing. The second swing was a little too close for comfort and she brought up her sword to block the third one. She swung her sword three times, just to be blocked by the stick of his ax every time. On the last block, he brought up the butt of his ax to whack Theo across the face. Theo felt the blood flood her mouth as she fell back onto the ground. She saw the man looming over her bringing the ax swinging down and she rolled out of the way. In the short second he struggled to get the ace dislodged from the ground, she brought her sword up and put it through his chest.  
Ava was watching from the trees with Tuni. Ava could tell Tuni was just as anxious as she was watching the fighting go on. This time, it was much different to watch then back at the brothel. She was entranced with the way the women were fighting, they looked and moved like the elite soldiers she would watch train in the gardens at her house. Except where the training ended with a meal in the kitchen, this ended with blood and a body. She expected herself to be more repulsed with watching death happen in front of her but she was handling it well. She was equally split between stress, sadness for the lives that were being lost, and admiration for the skill the pirates had. 

Through the fighting, she managed to catch sight of Theo driving her sword up into a large man wielding an ax and she wanted to yell at her to hurry up and get back on her feet. Ava lost her focus on Theo when she saw Morgana swinging her morningstar just in front of them. As Morgana’s weapon connected with someone’s head, sending them hurtling to the ground another soldier ran up to her and drove their dagger into her side. She yelled in pain as he removed it from her side and she dropped her morningstar. He punched Morgana and she fell to the ground, out like a light.

Tuni let out a blood-curdling scream and ran forward to Morgana. She reached for her belt and pulled a dagger from her side. As if she was born doing it, she threw the dagger and it found its home in the soldier’s throat. Once she made it to Morgana’s side, she dropped to her knees and began searching through her medicine bag. 

Ava didn’t know what to do, should she force Tuni to come back? Should she go try and help? With Tuni not paying attention to her surroundings, a soldier was able to catch them by surprise. He grabbed Morgana’s weapon and threw it far away. She stood there frozen as she watched the soldier run up behind Tuni and place the handle of his ax against her throat, choking her. Morgana, who was still passed out, was of no help and Ava realized she was the only one that could help Tuni. 

Side of the neck, base of the neck, liver, armpit, she remembered. But, none of those were available to her. She was panicking and Tuni was losing time. She was going to have to go for his back. She pulled her dagger out and clutched it in her hand, she snuck around until she was behind him then she brought up the dagger and plunged it down into his back. The man yelled and let go of Tuni. Ava used both hands to pull it out, remembering Oceane telling her that pulling it out was needed but, also very hard. She was not wrong, Ava did not expect that much resistance coming out. The soldier swiveled around and swung at Ava but she ducked and brought the butt of her dagger up to his nose, mimicking an exercise she had done with Morgana. His arms came up to his nose and she took the opportunity to kick him as hard as she could in the groin, bringing him to his knees.

“Ava, you have to finish it!” Tuni tried to get out as she was regaining her breath as the man started to get back up and Ava tried to remember what she was taught. 

She ran up behind him and pulled back his head and stabbed her knife into the side of his neck. She looked away as the knife broke the skin and she felt bile rise as her hands went warm where the blood was flowing out onto it. She let go of the knife still lodged in the man’s neck and he fell to the ground. Some women were left fighting but, as the number of men left alive swindled, others ran towards the beach. 

Tuni, having regained her breath, pushed past the pain in her throat and yelled at the nearest woman. She beckoned them over and commanded them to stay watch.

“Ava!” Tuni yelled, “I need you! Your bag!”

Ava snapped out of her trance and dropped to her knees next to Tuni. She opened her bag and handed it to Tuni who handed her a stack of cloth. Tuni carefully rolled up Morgana onto her side and lifted her shirt to expose the bleeding wound. Tuni instructed Ava to use the cloth to put pressure against the wound and Ava obeyed. Her hands shook and her heart could not stop beating out of her chest but, she was going to do her best to help Morgana. Ava spared a glance over at Tuni who looked calm, the opposite of what Ava would be feeling if her partner passed out in front of her. 

Tuni pulled a bottle of alcohol out from her bag and made Ava lift the cloth. She poured it over the wound to disinfect it and she pulled leaves out from the bag as well. Ava peeked around to see that the fighting had stopped and there were but a few stragglers left alive that the women were rounding up. Bodies were littering the floor and Ava felt sick, whatever fascination she felt before she no longer felt. She looked back at the task at hand when Tuni instructed her to remove the cloth. The wound had stopped bleeding and Tuni began to lay the leaves over the wound. 

Ava couldn’t stand to see the open wound any longer and she looked away. At the south of the camp, she saw Theo walking back from the beach where she assumed Theo had chased down those who ran away. Theo was taking stock of the aftermath of the fight and she locked eyes on Tuni, Ava, and Morgana. Theo began jogging over trying to see what was going on and when she realized what had happened she broke into a full sprint. 

“Morgana!” Theo shouted as she ran towards them. She fell to her knees next to them and the panic was clear on her face, “Tuni, talk to me. What’s wrong with her?!”

“For now, she’ll be okay. We have to make sure it doesn’t get infected. She was hit on the head and has been out for more than a few minutes,” Tuni recited in a calm clinical voice, “Are there more that are injured?” 

“Aye.” 

“Okay, Ava I need you to keep laying these leaves on like I was doing okay? And when it looks all covered you're going to need to bandage it tightly,” Tuni instructed. 

Ava took the leaves from Tuni and began to do what was asked of her. Theo, who was still kneeling next to her, noticed the blood on Ava’s hands. Looking around she realized that it didn’t belong to Morgana but the man with Ava’s dagger in his neck. She had just killed someone for the first time. Theo put a hand over Ava’s to stop her and Ava looked up. 

“I will find someone else to do this. I think you should go back to the ship,” Theo said gently.  
Ava took Theo’s hand off of her own and kept dressing the wound with the leaves, “I’m fine here. Tuni and Morgana need my help.” 

Theo would have argued but she knew that Ava was in shock. The first time she killed someone, it took her a whole sun for it to hit her. When it did she was inconsolable and she’s sure Ava will be too. Ava wanted a distraction because without it she would have to face what she did. Theo looked down at Morgana and whispered a prayer in Aelizan for her before standing up and walking away. While Ava helped Morgana and Tuni helped the other wounded, Theo began to shout orders to coordinate the movement of the merchandise. 

Some of the women were in charge of moving the bodies to somewhere where they couldn’t be easily seen. Others were in charge of carrying the merchandise to the beach so it could be transported to the ship. Theo put herself to work and began helping her crew move heavy boxes to the beach. As she was walking back from the beach for more cargo Oceane stopped her.  
“Theo!” She said as soon as she caught up to Theo, “Xyra’s requested that whenever you were ready to head back to the ship to debrief.” 

“Thank you Oceane,” Theo smiled at her, “How did you enjoy being the cannon girl?” 

Oceane straightened up subconsciously, trying to impress Theo. Ever since the others had said this was a test, she had been on her best and brightest behavior, “I loved it. You were right about pulling me off the vanguard.” 

“I knew you’d have an eye for good shots,” Theo patted her on the back then walked towards one of the boats rowing back to the ship. 

She made conversation with the women on her ride back. They were all celebrating their win and talking about the different fights and encounters they had with the Baethean soldiers. Theo, for the short ride back, willed herself to stop thinking about what was ahead and to enjoy the moment and she did. She rejoiced in the victory with the small number of people around her as they broke out into a silly pirate song. Once they got to the ship, she did her part to help unload the cargo before climbing aboard. 

Theo spotted Xyra at the helm and she climbed to stairs to get there. She was speaking with Navi and Theo cleared her throat to announce her presence. Xyra turned around and broke out into a huge smile of relief at seeing Theo alive and well. 

“Seems like we did it,” Theo said. 

“Seems like we did,” Xyra laughed and stepped forward to wrap Theo up in a hug. 

Theo hugged back tightly then pulled away, “How’d it go here?” 

“Not a scratch on your ship and all thanks to me,” Navi said and bowed. She had managed to get the boat closer to the island than Theo thought was possible which was an impressive feat.  
“The other ship didn’t seem to have anyone on it. It went down pretty easily. No one on our side was hurt,” Xyra followed up. 

“Better news than down there. We lost Moira and Morgana’s down for now. Tuni says she’ll be okay but we have to wait and see,” Theo said solemnly. 

Navi and Xyra both looked concerned at the news of Morgana. There was nothing any of them could do except pray to whatever gods they believed in and hope Tuni could keep any infection away. 

“Do you know what happened?” Navi asked.

Theo crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back against the edge and shook her head, “With Morgana? No, but what I can tell it was pretty messy. One of the bodies had Ava’s dagger still in it.”

“Red?!” Navi was shocked, “She killed someone?” 

“Either that or she gave her dagger to someone but I have a feeling that it was her own doing,” Theo clarified. 

“Fuck,” Xyra stated plainly, “She’s going to have a rough time with that one. And Moira?”  
Theo closed her eyes and remembered seeing Moira dead on the beach, blood spilling out of the side of her mouth and her heart ached. Moira had a few sisters she took care of and sent money to. She was a fierce fighter and she had been with the crew for close to two lengths. 

“Spear through the chest. It was out on the beach, during our second attack. She could’ve stayed back and been okay…” Theo lamented. 

“It’s not your fault,” Navi consoled. 

“I know. Xyra, make sure to send money to her family that covers expenses for the next length,” Theo requested. 

“Aye, next time we are at port I will arrange for that,” Xyra agreed. 

Theo dismissed herself and headed down to the storage room to check on Miss Yurwa. She was looking a little bit frazzled with the sudden rush of inventory coming into the mostly empty storeroom. Theo rushed to do her most to help, dictating what was coming in so Miss Yurwa could write it down without having to count or sort through it. She was down there for longer than she could keep track of. The lamp in the room had gone out twice though and that was indication enough that it had been hours. 

Xyra showed up once the flow of goods had stopped, “Everything's been loaded onto the ship. There is a party currently being launched upstairs with some barrels of ale found on the island.”  
“I better get up there and make sure that ale isn’t poisoned. I’m going to have to drink it to make sure. I sacrifice so much for the safety of this crew,” Theo joked and walked out, Xyra following close behind. 

True to Xyra’s statement the women had made quick work of tapping into the ale barrels. Some of the women had instruments and were clumsily playing together and giving the deck a lively vibe. Theo wanted to get into the spirit of the festivities but she felt wrong about it. Morgana was hurt and unable to come out and celebrate with them and Moira would never be able to again. She decided to stay away from the party for a little bit longer. 

Theo made her way over to the infirmary and walked inside. She found Tuni dressing wounds and a few of the girls on the beds. Morgana was on the first bed, sleeping, with Ava sitting on a chair next to her. Tuni rushed over when Theo walked in and Tuni threw her arms open at Theo. Theo walked forward and hugged Tuni tightly. 

“How is your woman?” Theo asked, voice muffled by Tuni's neck.

“She was awake a little bit ago,” Tuni said, pulling away, “Ava did a good job dressing her wound and now we just wait. In seven suns we’ll know if she’s passed the worst of it.”

“She’ll be okay,” Theo said, “She’s got a hard-ass head so I don’t think she’ll give in that easily.”  
“I know… I’m hopeful,” Tuni said then looked over at Ava and back at Theo. 

Theo understood what Tuni was trying to say. Ava was staring blankly at Morgana, worry etched on her face. She was focusing on Morgana to avoid handling whatever shock she was feeling.  
Theo walked over to Ava and crouched down next to her. Theo placed a hand on Ava’s knee, “Hey, let’s get you out of here okay?” 

“I don’t want to go to my room,” Ava quickly said, referencing the lower decks where her hammock was. 

“We don’t have to. There is a party going on outside. We could go to my room. We can sneak into Xyra’s room and trash everything then blame it on another crew member,” Theo teased and Ava cracked a smile. 

“The party sounds fine,” Ava said and Theo offered her a hand. 

Ava took it and stood up, following Theo’s lead. Outside, Ava saw the large group of women celebrating and drinking as they had been for the past several nights. Ava was met with cheers as she walked outside and all the women raised their glasses to her. 

“A girl becomes a woman!” One woman shouted from a corner of the deck. 

“To a woman’s first kill!” Another one shouted. 

“Here, here!” they all said and took a sip of their drinks. 

Ava’s blood ran cold. How had they all found out? She didn’t say anything back, unable to speak or move. The fight between her and the soldier kept replaying in her head. The feeling of her dagger sinking into flesh. How he looked lying dead as she tended to Morgana, eyes open and knife protruding from his neck. She took a deep breath trying to calm herself but it wasn’t working and every moment that went by felt like a rope was getting tied tighter around her neck.  
She felt Theo’s hand resting on her lower back as she tried to lead Ava forward.

“How about we go to my room?” Theo suggested but Ava just pushed back against her. 

“No. I want to stay out here,” Ava managed to get out. 

Ava looked pale and unwell. Theo could sense that Ava was on the precipice of a breakdown, she had seen it with so many other women before. Theo couldn’t force Ava to do anything she didn’t want, that would have just made things worse. Instead, she looked around for a solution. The helm. Ava would be able to see out to the party but it was far away enough from the commotion that the constant noise wouldn’t bother her. 

“We’ll stay out here then,” Theo took Ava’s hand into her own, “Follow me.”

This time, Ava did. They walked hand in hand to the helm and sat down on the last stair before reaching the upper deck. Theo had grabbed Ava a large mug of ale on their way there and when Ava took a drink she didn’t put it down until it was gone. Theo said nothing once Ava finished and neither did she. Theo didn’t know what to say. Usually, she did, and she had done this whole consoling to others after they killed someone, far too many times to count. With Ava though, it felt harder. 

“It’ll be hard to face what you did but it’s part of this process,” Theo tested the waters, “how do you feel?” 

“Numb,” Ava answered, picking at her nails, trying to get whatever blood was under her fingernails out. 

“Right…” Theo said awkwardly, unsure of how to continue. 

“How do you do it? Kill people and be so okay after,” Ava asked, looking up from her hands. 

“Depends on who you ask. It’s different for us all,” Theo replied. 

“I’m asking you.” 

“It’s us versus them, at that moment. Kill or be killed. For me, it’s gotten easier over the lengths to come to terms with it… As fucked up as that answer is, it gets easier,” Theo said, a tad bit ashamed to be saying so. 

“But this time it wasn’t us versus them. We attacked their island without them provoking us first. It didn’t have to be us versus them but it was. That man died because we needed something that they had,” Ava admitted. 

“Aye...” Theo conceded, “and to you, right now, the way we do it with ease might not make sense. But to these women, those soldiers are the enemy. They have always been. When those men enlisted in the Baethean army and set out to do it’s bidding they became the enemy of every pirate here. It’s still an us versus them, it’s just different.”

“How is that?” 

“It’s not us versus them in the sense that it is either our lives or theirs. It is pirates versus soldiers. It’s the lower class against those with unearned positions of power. You’ve read enough books by now to understand the damage done by the authorities, our police, our military.” Theo explained. 

“Aye but that doesn’t make it any easier,” Ava said, pain evident in her tone. 

“Not for you. You’ve only read about the horrors the military has engaged in, these women have lived it… For them, the death of an ‘innocent’ soldier is revenge for their deceased family member, their town that was destroyed, their life that was taken from then.” Theo tried to reason. 

Ava understood. She said nothing to indicate the fact, too caught up in her thought, but she understood. It made sense but it didn’t help her to get any close to a solution to the burning hole she felt in her chest. 

“Is that what it is for you? Revenge?” 

“Aye, in part,” Theo openly admitted, “I also do it for my crew. If one soldier’s death means my women are better off in the world for it, then it is easier for me.” 

“Have you ever felt this way? Like you’re drowning?” Ava asked. 

“Yes, when I first started,” Theo said.

“What did you do to make it go away?” 

“I drank until I felt like I was floating and not drowning then I would cry in Xyra’s arms,” Theo confessed, “Although, I recommend the opposite procedure as to not encourage any bad habits from forming.” 

“I wouldn’t even know where to begin,” Ava said. 

“What happened is a pretty good place to start,” Theo offered. If Ava was going to start talking then Theo would be the best support she could be. 

Ava did open up. She explained what happened, she was watching Theo fight then Morgana caught her attention. Morgana got knocked out and Tuni ran to help. Tuni got attacked and Ava had to act quickly and get the man off of her. She explained how she stabbed him and what it felt like when she realized he was dying. Hot tears spilled out of her eyes and her voice wavered, she was keeping herself from sobbing and Theo could tell. 

“I saved Tuni and Morgana. I know I had to do what I did but I think what’s hardest for me to get past is that I did it… I did it and I’m feeling things I’ve never felt before yet I’m not running for the hills. I’m not thinking about getting the hell off this ship or begging never to be put with the vanguard again. I want to stay and I know that means I will eventually have to kill more people…” Ava finished. 

Theo was left without words to say. She didn’t know how to respond to that but it seemed Ava didn’t need anything to be said. She grabbed the mug she had finished earlier and got up. 

“Thank you for the talk. I'm going to get blackout drunk now,” Ava said and walked down the stairs and straight into the party.

\----------------------------

Theo’s night went uneventfully. She watched Ava throwback drink after drink and she felt sorry for how Ava would feel in the morning. Theo ended up turning into her cabin a bit earlier than she usually would the night after a raid but she had to be up the next morning early to set a course to sail. The exhaustion from the sun’s events let her fall asleep fairly easily and she awoke to Navi entering her room the next morning. 

By the time Theo had fully woken up and sat up in her bed Navi was sitting behind Theo’s desk eating a piece of fruit they had brought back from the island. Theo groaned at the early intruder and fell back in her bed.

“If I had known it was your annoying ass I wouldn’t have woken up,” Theo put a pillow over her face. 

“That is no way to talk to your drug dealer,” Navi scoffed and took a bite of her fruit. 

“Why is it so early!” Theo's screams were muffled by the pillow, “Why did last night take so long!” 

“You’re such a baby. Xyra and I stayed up going through the inventory all night and charting. In fact, I haven’t slept yet. But here you are, sleeping away and doing no work,” Navi sighed dramatically. 

Theo removed the pillow from her face, “You stayed up all night with Xyra?”

“Hm. That was absolutely not the point of what I said though. We did the inventory and we have a course,” Navi repeated. 

“I heard you. She’s my first mate and you’re my navigator. I’m supposed to applaud you for doing your job?” Theo laughed and got up. 

“Yes, please” Navi smiled at Theo and batted her eyes. 

“Fine,” Theo rolled her eyes playfully, “Thank you.” 

She walked over to Navi and planted a kiss on her forehead then stole her piece of fruit. 

“Oi!” Navi shouted. 

“Starving,” Theo moaned around a mouthful of fruit.

“You’re a dick,” Navi said, “Now, I’m staying in your chair.” 

Theo shrugged and sat on the desk, “So, this inventory and chart you were talking about. Want to tell me about them?” 

Navi unrolled a map and showed Theo where they had plotted a course to. Theo studied the map for a second then sighed exasperatedly. 

“Why are we going to Niveal?” Theo asked. 

“They voted on it last night,” Navi laughed, “They were all pretty drunk.”

“They’re going to blow all their money,” Theo complained. 

“They just went on two risky missions in a row. One got them each a share of 500 gold pieces and the other has supplied the ship with cycles worth of supplies. Let’s enjoy it. I'm sure they won’t spend all of their gold pieces.`` Navi tried convincing her. 

“I can name 9 people on this ship that would,” Theo challenged. 

“Fine,” Navi conceded, “I’m sure only some of them will spend all their gold pieces.” 

Theo sighed and tried to hold back a smile, “I guess Niveal would be a good time.” 

Theo rolled up the map and handed it back to Navi. Niveal was a favorite among her crew and other degenerates like them. It was an island that was positioned between Dove Island and Efriti. Efriti has laid claim on it since the start of Baethos, claiming it was in their waters. The center approved this and ruled that Efriti would govern over it. However, as technology advanced and nautical tools improved it was discovered that Niveal was a few kilometers into Dove Island waters. So the island finds itself benefiting from a unique political and geographic situation. 

Niveal is a lawless island that performs its lawlessness in full view of the government. There was an unspoken rule between the political powers involved, no one made a move on Niveal. The Center couldn’t declare it a part of Dove Island because it would lead to a rebellion in Efriti. With continuous small scale rebellion already taking place all around Efriti, it only took a spark to ignite a fire that The Center wasn’t sure it could control. Militias of any kind were banned in all continents but that didn’t stop them from having covert underground groups that were sometimes hired by certain politicians to advance a political agenda. That meant that Dove Island could make no move on Niveal without Efriti retaliating. It also meant that Efriti could not step in and police without Dove Island feeling threatened and sending in their militias into Efriti and NiIveal to conduct terror campaigns. The Center couldn’t step into police in case it was seen as overreaching and both Efriti and Dove Island would revolt. 

Due to this ongoing crisis, Niveal had become a hub for illicit business and partying. Pirates, businessmen, young people in rich and high born families all come together in harmony on the island. There was gambling, a lack of rules on same-sex relationships, a bustling weapons and drug business, and a booming underground market for expensive stolen goods. It was a pirate’s paradise, well, besides having to share all the glory with non-pirates. Theo was concerned that the money her crew worked hard to earn would be wasted on a few drunken nights in Niveal. However, Navi was right. It was their money and they could spend it how they like. Plus, the crew had voted and she had promised. 

“You’re smiling. You’re excited,” Navi pointed out. 

“So, what if I wanna spend my money and go wild for a few suns. I’ve been working very hard lately,” Theo said. 

“Are you expecting me to thank you for doing your job?” Navi mocked.

“Shut it. Is the updated inventory written in Aelizan? And you’ve burned the past log?” Theo asked. 

Navi handed Theo the papers, “You asked as if Xyra’s ever forgotten to stick to the rules.”  
Common was what most people read and wrote so Theo, Xyra, and Navi decided to begin recording all information that could be used when they were boarded in a language very few people spoke. Theo looked through the pages and her smile grew with every new one she read.  
“We hit a gold mine. We’ve got medical equipment, ammunition, weapons, armor, food, ale, hardware, clothes,” Theo listed. 

“I’m aware, I was there when we wrote it,” Navi said. 

“Two successes in a row? I’m the king of the pirates and nobody can knock me down from my throne,” Theo boasted. 

From the open door, they heard a call from the crow’s nest, “Three ships on the horizon!” 

“You sure about that?” Navi asked as Theo bolted out the door. 

She came to a stop at the base of the mast and looked up, “What do you see?!” 

“Three large ships!” the spotter yelled down, “Too far to tell what they are.” 

Theo felt a lump form in her throat. She spun around quickly to try and find Xyra but couldn’t find her out on the deck. 

“Someone get Xyra!” She yelled and ran up to the helm, “Man your stations! We are setting course for Niveal a little early, girls!” 

“Captain, they might be a merchant fleet. Or a noble family with coins aboard. We can lie in wait here and ambush them,” Yori, one of her sailors suggested. 

“If it’s a fleet and they are carrying something that important we can’t risk our ship against three fully armed ships,” Theo replied. 

“What if they aren’t heavily armed?” Yori asked. 

“Then whatever is on those ships is not worth anything. To your station, Yori,” Theo said.

Xyra finally emerged onto the deck and ran up to the helm, “What is it?” 

“Three ships on the horizon,” Theo said and Xyra’s face dropped. 

Vaith. 

Vaith was a member of the council of nobles that ran Baethos. Whenever a council member would travel, they would travel aboard a fleet made up of the biggest and most armed ships that had ever sailed the Baethian seas. The official name for the ships was called light-bringers and each council member never sailed with less than three at a time. What looked like big bountiful merchant ships to the crew were the deadliest naval ships known to man. They knew they had to get out there as quickly as possible before the ships were close enough to be identified. If the pirates found out any council member was this nearby they would call for their head. 

“What are we waiting for?!” Xyra turned around to the crew on the deck, “The captain said to set a course for Niveal. Why isn’t the anchor being lifted? Go, go, go!” 

The crew jumped into action and soon enough the anchor had been lifted, the sails had unfurled and they were catching the wind. Once the island was far behind them and the sun was high in the air, she decided to leave the crew to it. She walked into her room but before she could lay in bed and just take a nice relaxing nap, she was interrupted once again. Navi and Cooker stood in her room with their arms crossed. 

“What is it you know?” Cooker asked. 

“What are you talking about?” Theo acted dumb. 

“Three unidentified ships on the horizon and you don’t even hesitate before giving the order we have to go. No waiting till they got closer or hiding, then trailing to see what they were up to. Nothing,” Navi confronted her with the facts. 

“Listen, I just wanted us to get on our way to Niveal after two successful missions. We need to enjoy it,” Theo said, echoing what Navi had said before. 

“Choose how you continue to answer these questions wisely, Captain, because I will not tolerate lying. Not between us. Not when you’ve promised to be honest with me, always,” Cooker accused. 

Xyra, who had walked into the room shortly after everyone else had, cleared her throat, “Theo… We need to tell them.”

“Those ships are light-bringers,” Theo confessed. 

Navi was fuming and Cooker looked like she was about to pounce. If this was their reaction with barely any context, Theo wasn’t looking forward to the rest. 

“And please do tell, whose fucking light are they bringing?” Navi questioned. 

Theo took a deep breath, “Lord Umbar Vaith.” 

“Turn this fucking ship around!” Navi yelled and rushed towards the door. 

Xyra caught her and kept her from going outside, “Navi, please. Just listen.” 

Navi struggled against Xyra but Xyra didn’t let up. After figuring out she was going to be forced to listen, she stopped fussing and opting to stew in silence. Xyra let go of Navi and went back to guarding the door, she didn’t put it past Navi to rush the door again. 

“Norhan had the lead… He had the lead and he didn’t tell me about it. I had to find it out through Rob and Unil,” Theo explained, starting at the beginning, “Which led me to think why he wouldn’t share it with me.” 

“Cause men can’t be trusted,” Cooker retorted. 

“Because he was afraid I would make a hot-headed decision and lead us all into a suicide mission. I knew if I told you all, the crew would put it up to a vote and we would have to pursue him. With no supplies and one ship, how far do you think we would have gotten?” Theo tried reasoning with them. 

“You lied to us. You kept the biggest lead and the closest chance we’ve had to get Vaith a secret and failed to give us a say in your decision,” Cooker restated. 

“Yes. Yes, I did and I will never stop being sorry. It was killing me inside. You have to, believe me, it was the last thing I wanted to do. I thought about it long and hard,” Theo explained.

“You didn’t think it through because if you had, you wouldn’t have kept this from us! From me!” Navi yelled, “On his orders, the military arrested or killed every man in our village. They took my father from me!”

Theo slammed her hand on the desk, “Vaith killed my entire family in cold blood! Right in front of my eyes, Navi! I know the pain that man has caused. It took everything in me not to go after him too. It killed me to not share this with you!”

“Bullshit!” Navi slammed her hands on the desk too, leaning it to be face to face with Theo.  
“Enough!” Xyra exclaimed, “I won't sit here and listen to you act as if she’s a villain and not someone who just made a mistake. I have watched her be in agony over this. She put her crew before herself. Put aside your anger for just one second and understand why we did it. This would have sent everyone to their deaths and for what? To not even get close to him. If we stick to the plan we’ve always had and build up a fleet, he can be defeated.”

The tension could be cut with a knife. Navi and Theo were in a staredown, both leaning over the desk. Cooker looked between both of them and walked over to Navi. Cooker gently grabbed the back of Navi’s arm and pulled her away. She leaned in and whispered something in Navi’s ear to calm her down, Theo did not want to ask what it was. 

Navi looked at Xyra then at Theo, “You need to come clean.” 

“I was always planning on telling them,” Theo reiterated. 

“Don’t tell them until nightfall. That way it would be impossible to go back for Vaith,” Navi advised before leaving. 

Navi had seen their logic but she was still angry, and with good reason. Revenge for her father had been what drove her to join a pirate crew and eventually sail under Theo’s flag. Having the man who took her father only a few hours away was probably killing her. In the end, Navi had done what Theo did and put aside the personal for the sake of the crew. Cooker stayed in the office, dead silent and unmoving. 

“Cooker?” Theo tried. 

“I would advise you to not speak while I’m trying to find the words to say to you right now,” Cooker said in a strained voice. 

They were still standing and they stood there for a while. Cooker opened her mouth to start something many times but nothing came out. Finally, she found out what she wanted to know.

“Why did you tell Xyra and not me?” Cooker asked. 

Theo’s heart ached at having to give that answer. Of everything that Cooker could have said, this was not what Theo was expecting and it hurt her even more than she thought it could. Xyra and Theo had met two lengths before they met Cooker and even though they had all been inseparable for 10 lengths, growing up Cooker felt alienated sometimes. The two lengths before Cooker came along had given Theo and Xyra a bond that Cooker could not match with either of them. Up until that point though, it had never been a problem. Xyra and Theo included Cooker in every decision they made. They shared every adventure, every high and every low up until now. 

“Cooker… I don’t know,” Theo said. 

“Well, think. Cause there is a fucking reason you spent over a cycle sitting on this information while Xyra knew and not me,” Cooker was making this difficult. 

“Because you would have wanted to tell the others,” Xyra stepped in, “If Theo won’t say it, I will.”  
“So my morality cost me a seat at the table?” 

“It wasn’t something that we actively discussed, Cooker. It was just unspoken,” Theo tried. 

“And now, I’m not even worth the discussion,” Cooker scoffed. 

“Cooker I am sorry,” Theo pleaded. She wanted her to see her side. Cooker had every right to be mad but Theo wished the world was not like that and Cooker had to forgive her. 

“I want to remind you, Theo, after I rejected a position on the ship’s command and you asked me to still stay involved in the politics of it all and be an advisor to you, I asked only one thing. I wanted the transparency your first mate would get and you made that concession. If you would have told me about Vaith I would’ve helped you convince the girls that it wasn’t in our best interest to attack. I would’ve convinced them to keep this under the radar and that you were right. Instead, because either you couldn’t bother to think of me or because when you did you thought I was too moral to trust you dug yourselves a hole. 

So before I leave, let’s get this situation clear. I have fought by your side for ten lengths, I have advised you for four, I have been loyal to you and my duty to tell you what I think is right and wrong without a fault. A cycle ago, when you discovered life-changing information you chose to share it with Xyra and no one else, not even me, directly breaking your promise. To make matters worse, when confronted about it you lied twice. Twice. So when I say this it's not to Captain Theo, but to my friend. Fuck.You.” Cooker finished, her cool tone not raising once during her whole speech. 

She turned around and walked calmly to the door but Xyra was standing in her way, “Cooker…”  
“Fuck you too, Xyra” Cooker scoffed and pushed past Xyra, “I’ll see you both at the assembly after dinnertime. 

Cooker walked out, slamming the room door behind her. Theo was left stunned, the iciness of Cooker’s tone was chilling and Theo knew she had a lot of making up to do. 

\----------------------  
The women in the kitchen during dinner were moaning and groaning about yet another assembly but they all made it out onto the deck after being rounded up. Theo stood on the upper deck with Xyra on her right-hand side, as always. Ava had been looking forward to the assembly ever since it was announced, it was going to be her first one not as a passenger and she was ready. Theo wasted no time in beginning her address, starting with a story about what happened in The Twins. Ava quickly realized that Theo was coming clean. The assembly was about the lead Theo had been upset about. The one she had been told about that night on the deck and asked to keep a secret. 

“The lead let us know that there would be a councilman traveling these waters. Those were the ships you say earlier, three light-bringers,” Theo explained and watched the reactions of confusion among the crew, “The ships were carrying Lord Vaith.”

The suspense had been building and when Theo uttered the name, the crowd erupted in protest. Ava heard the crowd shoutout curses to his name, she heard them yelling the names of tragedies he and other councilmen were involved with. Theo let them all air out their waves of anger, taking all the words that were thrown at her. She began to explain to the crew why she kept this information from them but Ava was paying no attention anymore. She was still processing it all. The person Theo and her whole crew hated the most in the world was Umbar Vaith. She felt sick to her stomach. 

She felt her vision start to close in and a panic began to rise in her chest. Between the emotions from the sun before and getting a ton of brick dropped on her at the assembly, she felt like she couldn't breathe. She just wanted to get out of the crowd, so she did. She began to squirm through the crowd until she was able to slip into the lower decks. She wanted to go to her room but she remembered she didn’t even have one. She had a hammock with no privacy on a floor that would be flooded with gossiping people within minutes. 

Ava figured the library was the best place and made a beeline for it. She shut the door behind her and sat in her chair, bringing her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. The door opened after she got in and she was about to yell at the person to get out. Relief washed over her. If anyone would be able to help her, it was Cooker. Cooker had seen Ava in distress at the assembly and followed her to the library. 

“Get me off this boat, please,” Ava asked as soon as Cooker got in. 

Cooker locked the door and found a seat, “You okay? Do you need to talk about it?” 

Ava fiercely shook her head no, “You wouldn’t understand it.” 

“Try me,” Cooker tried persuading her. 

“No. You wouldn’t get it. You wouldn’t be able to understand,” Ava said, panic rising in her voice, “I’m trapped. I’m against a wall. I need to go.”

“It’ll be okay, Ava,” Cooker said trying to calm her down. 

“You don’t know that,” Ava said and began to fidget with her hands, “I killed someone and now I’m an actual criminal. I’m an outlaw now and I don’t belong on this boat and now I’ve got nowhere else to go.”

“You belong on this boat, Ava,” Cooker said and walked over before crouching in front of Ava. 

“I don’t. I don’t. You don’t understand, I can’t be on this ship anymore,” Ava tried to get Cooker to see, “My family has done horrible things.” 

“My family has too but that doesn’t define you. You had no say in their activities. You are reading every sun and hoping to make yourself better than they were. You don’t have to pay for their crimes,” Cooker tried. 

“You don’t understand,” Ava repeated, like a robot. 

“Ava. I do understand. I understand more than you know,” Cooker tried to get through to Ava without having to speak the words but Ava wasn’t getting it. 

“I need to get off this boat! I am not safe here,” Ava shouted, her frustration level getting higher as her panic began to rise. 

“You are safe. I won’t let anything happen to you,” Cooker promised. 

“Stop! You can’t promise anything! You don’t know what I’m talking about,” Ava yelled.

“I know exactly what you’re talking about! Get the hint, Ava,” Cooker shouted back. 

“What do you mean?” Ava said, lower tone now but the panic was still present. 

“My name is Carrie Cooker,” she said, “I know who you are.” 

Ava’s mouth dropped open and she felt about three seconds from passing out. Her ears started to ring, there was no way she had heard that correctly. Cooker put her hand on Ava’s shoulder but the silence in the room was pertinent. Ava was shocked, her head was empty. Her head couldn’t battle the confusion and fear she felt at that moment. Cooker had the feeling that Ava was not going to begin talking anytime soon so she filled the space. 

“You are Lord Umbar Vaith’s youngest daughter. Your name is Avery Vaith.”


	14. Explanations

Ava was spiraling. Every time her mind focused on one train of thought, another one swooped in to take center stage. Her breathing became a bit more labored as the panic started to set in. Cooker knew her name, knew who she was. There would be no time to get off the ship, she would be turned in to the angry mob of women upstairs. She tried to quickly think of a solution but she went blank. She remembered her dagger that one of the women had retrieved for her after she left it behind on the island after the raid. She pulled it from it’s home on her waist and she stood up, pointing it at Cooker. 

Cooker held up her hands and backed away from Ava, “Listen, I could disarm you before you could blink. Why don’t you put that down and we can have a civil conversation.” 

Ava knew what Cooker was saying was true. There was no way Ava could overpower the other girl or make any significant impact. Even if Ava did, what good would a dead pirate do except incriminate her? However, Cooker knew Ava’s secret and she was just as likely to get in trouble if she let Cooker go. 

“I can’t,” Ava said and made her way to the locked door, making sure Cooker couldn’t make a run for it. 

“Avery, I already told you that you are safe. If I wanted to turn you in, I would have done that a long time ago,” Cooker admitted, her hands still held up. 

“Do not call me that!” Ava said, the dagger still pointed in Cooker’s direction. 

“Fine, fair point. Just put it down and we can speak. Ava, the last thing I want to do is hurt you,” Cooker said, this time she took a step towards Ava, “I am trying to be on your side.”

Ava lowered the weapon after a few moments of careful consideration, “Carrie Cooker. You’re supposed to be dead.” 

“Aye, so are you,” Cooker responded. 

“How are you alive?” Ava asked. 

Carrie Cooker belonged to the Great Cooker family which was one of the thirty-five great houses that were under her father, Vaith’s, command. The Cookers were one of her father’s closest allies and Carrie Cooker along with her siblings spent a lot of time at the Vaith estate. None of the Cooker children were Ava’s age so she would sit back with the chambermaids while all her siblings went to play. Ava kept kicking herself for not figuring it out sooner, all of the clues were right in front of her, Cooker’s name, her disdain for the rich, the amount of knowledge she had of the houses. On the other hand, Ava never really did spend any time with Carrie Cooker and after ten lengths she looked different- shaved head and tattoos up to her neck- so it was no surprise Ava didn’t recognize her. Plus, Ava had believed up until that conversation that no one had ever successfully run away from the Cooker family before. Carrie Cooker was dead to her up until a few minutes prior.

Cooker shrugged, “I was never dead. Or in any danger really. I just ran away from home and my parents thought it would be the perfect political opportunity. Concocted some story about how I was taken and killed by some militia group so they could justify going in and killing them.” 

“My family mourned you. My sister mourned you,” Ava said, shocked at the things some people were willing to do. 

“Mallory mourned me? You know I was her first kiss right?” Cooker bragged. 

Ava wished she could undo the past three hours. As if the pile of information on her lap wasn’t enough Cooker had to open her mouth, “Cooker, please! That is a blindside a completely not relevant to this very serious conversation.” 

“Right. Good idea, Red. Let’s talk about you,” Cooker sat down in her special chair and crossed her legs. 

“What about me?” Ava responded. 

Cooker laughed, “You’re joking right? Am I going to have to pry the story out of you? You are dead Avery Vaith.” 

“Avery Vaith is dead. I am not,” Ava corrected. 

“You know what I meant. Two cycles before you showed up we got the news that Lord Vaith’s youngest daughter had been killed when a land raid happened at Aubermausse. I don’t mean to make you feel any more hated but there was a bit of a celebration on the ship. It was quite a momentous occasion,” Cooker admitted, “So, how are you sitting here in front of me?”

“I was out on the town with my chambermaid. We were shopping for new gowns and just trying to pass the time so I didn’t have to go back home when we heard the attack bells. I still don’t know what happened or who was responsible but we were under siege. Things had never been so chaotic before…” Ava explained. 

“It was the perfect time to run,” Cooker said. 

“Aye,” she tested out the phrase, “at first that wasn’t what I was thinking. I was just worried about getting to safety. So we ran until we reached a cliff where things were calm. There was a body there from a woman who had been killed in the attack and I thought maybe I could use her to make them believe it was me. I don’t know how I started on the train of thought but I knew I needed to run away. I changed into one of the dresses I had bought and had my chambermaid help me put what I was wearing on the body… Then we pushed it off the cliff so she couldn’t be recognized,” Ava said. 

“So, your parents didn’t fake your death, you did? Fuck that’s intense,” Cooker said, “Why’d you run? A Vaith has never run away.” 

“I don’t know. It wasn’t like I planned it, I happened to fall into the perfect situation. The city was distracted, I had a full coin purse, there was a way to fake my death and I knew my chambermaid would never tell,” Ava said. 

“Just because you had an opportunity doesn’t mean you had to run. You chose to, but why?” Cooker pressed. 

“I don’t really know… I guess I never felt like I belonged in my family. I did everything they did, liked everything they did, laughed at everything they did but I was never fully accepted. I was sent to my room during important events or excluded from conversations. I think they knew I was faking it, faking that I knew how to live amongst my own family. I didn’t realize the dark cloud I was living in until I left…” Ava felt the words getting harder to get out as she held back tears, “There was all of that and then my dad had started to talk about marrying me to a boy from Efriti, some nobleman’s son. I realized when I was on that cliff that I had no one that I would miss and I had nothing to lose.” 

“Shit, red,” Cooker said, “You made it pretty far. You had me fooled for a second there too.” 

“You didn’t know the whole time?” Ava questioned. 

“No, I didn’t realize it until we were a few suns into our voyage to Jarth. I knew you looked familiar the first night we met but it’s been ten lengths since I last saw you and you have changed quite a lot. Also, it was nighttime and I was quite drunk already,” Cooker explained. 

“How’d you figure it out?” 

“One sun, just sitting and talking to you. It just hit me. You look just like your sister and speak like a Vaith too. Figured you had run away and your father made it look like you were killed,” Cooker shrugged. 

“Can you please not mention my sister again? I have a lot to process and her involvement in this is not on my agenda right now?” Ava asked. 

Cooker laughed a little, “Fine, your wish is my command.” 

“You’ve known for almost two cycles… Why didn’t you say anything?” Ava asked. Cooker could have said something at any point. Given the history most of these women had with Ava’s father and the fact that Cooker was loyal to her crew made it odd that Ava’s identity had not been revealed.

Cooker grew more serious and let out a long sigh, “There are a lot of reasons. At first, I figured you’d get off as soon as you could and it wouldn’t matter. Then when you kept traveling I figured I would just wait it out. I was raised like you, I know what it’s like to finally be free from that. I saw you were different from others like you, you wanted to learn and correct yourself and I wanted to let you have your chance at starting a new life. Then you decided to become a fucking pirate and that plan was fucked. Things were hectic though so I figured I would just wait until the raid for supplies was over.” 

“And now?” Ava asked nervously, hand ready to reach for her dagger at any moment. 

“Now there is no way in all of the Baethean seas I can tell Theo. She wouldn’t be able to keep the secret, not with all that guilt from the most recent disaster. Your status on this ship would be put to a vote and the crew would use you as bait to get to your father. It’s too risky with him being this close,” Cooker said. 

Ava had been afraid that that would be the case for her but she had held out a small amount of hope that the women would not turn on her like that. 

“They would do that?” Ava asked. 

“Aye, you’re not close with them yet. You only know a handful of us and that is far from securing a majority,” Cooker rationed and it made sense to Ava, she didn’t blame the women. 

“So you won’t say anything?” Ava hoped. 

Cooker shook her head, “No, not yet anyway. Let’s get you settled into the crew and make them see you as a person first. Once they see you are one of the crew they’ll let go of who you were a lot easier.”

For the first time since she had bad been on the deck, she felt the panic start to subdue. Cooker would keep her secret. More than that, Cooker was talking about Ava’s future on the ship as if it was a sure thing. Ava allowed herself to feel like her place on the ship was not in as much jeopardy as she thought. 

“Thank you,” Ava said, sincerely, “I don’t know what else to say or how to repay you.”

Cooker waved her off, “You’re not the only getting something out of it. Theo lied to me and I’m using this to get back at her.” 

Ava felt wrong about that. She did not want to hurt Theo or keep anything from her. She had been nothing but gracious and generous with Ava but it was either lie, get shipped back home, or be killed. 

“She’s your captain,” Ava pointed out. 

“Aye and she always will be but her actions have consequences and I do not care if I am petty right now,” Cooker explained and stood up, “Call it flawed logic, doesn’t matter to me.” 

“Are you leaving?” Ava asked, panic starting to rise back up. Cooker had kept her calm but now that she was leaving Ava felt her control on the situation slip. 

“Aye, you’ll be fine,” Cooker said, “Before I leave, is Ava Ableworth even real?” 

Ava shook her head, “No, Ava is just close to Avery and I thought it would be easy to get used to...I chose Ableworth because they’re the only other redheaded family in North Elox… Plus, they’ve got a runaway bride problem so I thought it would be a believable cover.”

Cooker headed to the door and she looked amused, “We’re going to have to be careful when they vet you. I’ll help you prepare for it. ”

“Thank you,” Ava repeated, “ and thank you again for not saying anything.” 

Cooker unlocked the door and opened it, “You’re likable, Ava. You make it easy to keep a huge not-in-any-way going to come back and bite us in the ass kind of secret.” 

Ava let out a laugh and she quickly covered her mouth. It was the first time she had laughed in what felt like suns. A major crisis had been avoided for the time being and she would just have to regroup and keep moving forward.


	15. The Aftermath

Theo was gripping the rails on the upper deck as she heard her crew shouting at her. The second the word ‘Vaith’ left her mouth there was an uproar from the crew. Through the unintelligible waves of anger emanating from the crowd, Theo managed to catch onto enough of the comments to understand her crew was far from happy. Some of the women had resorted to name-calling, traitor and liar were thrown around quite a bit. Other women had tried their hand at yelling out reminders to Theo as to what exactly Vaith had done to them. Villages destroyed, unfair classifications for their family, decisions he made on the council that affected their lives. 

Theo took a deep breath trying to keep down her anger and frustration from being yelled at. She didn’t need a reminder as to what Vaith had done, she knew first hand. For many of these women, Vaith had ruined their lives. And if he hadn’t, another councilmember most likely had. So Vaith represented the ultimate prize. Whether he directly affected someone or acted as a symbol of the system, Vaith and the other council members were easily the most hated men amongst those lower in Baethean society. After the initial volley of insults and protest the crowd had quieted down enough for Theo to be able to speak. 

“I’ve sat down with all of you at one point or another when you first joined my crew and promised to never lie to you or keep things from you,” Theo admitted and the women in the crowd nodded along, some unhappy mutters slipping through, “I broke that promise and I am infinitely sorry. This has weighed on my mind for a while and I promise you I will not keep secrets from you again.” 

Theo scanned the crowd and saw Ava squeezing past pirates on her way inside the deck. Cooker, Theo noted, followed in pursuit of Ava and slipped into the deck too. Theo was confused but pushed it out of her mind, she had other things to attend to. 

“I do not know how to repair the damage I have caused beyond apologizing and asking for your understanding and forgiveness. My door will be open all morning, aftermorning, and night for any concerns or questions you might have. We are going to be sailing for another six suns to Niveal where we are going to dock for an indefinite time until we figure out our next course based on any new leads we get.” 

“Will you keep those from us too?” A woman from the crew yelled out and it was met with various snickers from the others.

“Clever,” Theo said, grip still tight on the railing, “Night crew, your shifts start now. That is all, pirates, thank you.” 

She pushed herself off from the railing and walked to the helm of the ship waiting for Navi to join. She planned to stay on deck and around the crew until late hoping that burning the midnight oil would make the crew forgive her a little easier. Navi marched up the stairs and positioned herself at the helm, arms crossed in front of her. 

“Navi, any updates? We still projecting a six sun journey?” Theo asked. 

“Don’t know why it would have changed since I told you two hours ago.”

“I was just asking.”

“I’m not in the mood for small talk, Theo,” Navi snapped at Theo and turned to face away, overlooking the crew. 

Theo sighed and pushed past Navi and back down the stairs. She knew she was in the wrong but she was not going to deal with Navi’s attitude. No productive conversation would come out of it anyway. Navi was just as stubborn as Theo so she knew firsthand the degree of cold shoulder Navi was capable of. Working against the voice in her brain screaming at her to keep Navi and Xyra at a distance, she found Xyra and patted her on the back.

“You’re on night duty with Navi tonight. Captain’s orders,” Theo informed her and quickly made her way inside the deck before Xyra could say anything. 

Theo felt a bit lost on her own ship which was an odd feeling. She didn’t know where to go or who to talk to, she was positive the majority of the women on the ship were in too sore a mood to be faced with their lying captain. Theo decided it would be best to retreat into the kitchen and help Rose clean up dinner, pirates tended to be messy. She walked into an empty mess hall, Rose in the kitchen. Silently, as Rose preferred, Theo began to pick up the plates and cups from the tables around the room. 

Slowly, the room started to look cleaner and Theo heard Rose putting some tea to boil. Theo walked into the kitchen with the last of the plates and flashed Rose a smile. The kitchen was as spotless as a pirate kitchen could be and Theo’s helping hands allowed the cook to get her kitchen cleaned a lot faster than usual. Theo leaned against one of the counters and watched the older woman making her way about the kitchen. 

“Here you go,” she said in her signature thick accent, “You need it.” 

Rose handed Theo the cup of tea which she gratefully accepted, “At least one person is speaking to me.”

“Aye,” Rose let out a small chuckle, “they will be punishing you enough.” 

Rose had been on Theo’s crew for four lengths and Theo recruited her onto the ship only ten cycles after becoming Captain. Miss Yurwa and Rose were a package deal and they both came on to the ship together. Rose and Miss Yurwa both lived with their sons who supported them. Their sons were drafted into the Baethean army and died trying to quell an uprising in Aeliz. The Center sent them a year’s worth of wages but it wasn’t enough to keep them alive. When Theo stumbled across them in a small South Efritian port city, Miss Yurwa and Rose did not hesitate to agree to come on board. No one dared to ask them how old they were but the most accurate estimates the crew had come up with was around 50 lengths old. 

Rose was a woman of little words and Theo appreciated it sometimes. Rose’s kitchen was always a welcome escape. It was Rose’s her of intrusive questioning and the ability to not be influenced by the moods of the crew made her company welcome. Theo sipped her tea in silence, relishing the warmth in her hands from the cup. 

“You need to choose,” Rose said, breaking the silence. 

“Come again?”

“You need to choose. Be a captain that keeps secrets for the best of the crew or be a captain that doesn’t, even if it means risking the crew. There is no right answer, but you must choose,” Rose offered a piece of seldom given advice. 

Theo was floored. Obviously, in the time that Rose had been a part of the crew, Theo had been privy to a few pieces of advice from Rose but they were far and few between. Theo would often compare Rose to the gods, only meddling in the affairs of humans when they were of the utmost importance. Rose had a point in her advice. Theo couldn’t protect her crew and promise to be honest all the time, one had to give at some point. She wanted to do it all, protect them, keep their best interests for the long term at heart, and have full transparency with them but she realized now she couldn’t. Rose, in her godly wisdom, had given Theo the clarity she had been floundering for all that time. 

“Aye, you’re right,” Theo sighed, “But it’s fucking hard to choose.”

One thing she wouldn’t give up was allowing the women on her crew to have a voice. Her ship was the only place in all of Baethos where women were accounted for in every decision and no one’s voice was spoken over. She had robbed the women of a vote by lying to them. She wouldn't do that again, she decided. It was as simple as that. She would stick by her word of never keeping her crew in the dark even if it cost them their safety and their lives. These women were pirates and they understood the dangers they signed up for when they came on the ship. 

Theo knew that she was overthinking and kicking herself about the whole situation a little too hard. There would most likely never be another time where she kept something this big from her crew. Nothing would ever come close to the magnitude of what Theo lied about, she had kept to herself the map to the ultimate treasure. Theo put her cup down and leaned forward to kiss Rose on the forehead. She had decided to heed Rose’s advice and now all that was left was the simple task of winning her crew over again. 

Making her way out of the kitchen she decided to start with the two people who had slipped out of the assembly earlier, Cooker and Ava. She had seen them come inside the deck and assumed if they had gone anywhere it would have been the library. When she opened the door to it she found only Ava sitting in the chair, book on her lap, staring at the wall. Her head snapped over and she paled a bit at the sight of Theo. 

Theo walked into the room, shutting the door behind her, “You missed out on the assembly.” 

Ava cleared her throat and licked her lips nervously, “Aye, I’ve had the worst headache all sun from all the drinking last night. It was just a lot of noise at once and I just wanted to get out of there.”

“You must have had a hell of a lot to drink last night then,” Theo tried to joke and flashed Ava a smile, only to be met with nothing in return. 

“It was quite the evening, yeah,” Ava said looking down, toying with the pages in her book. 

“I was just going to ask if you wanted to pass by my room later tonight. I’m going to be out trying to talk to the crew for a little bit I should be in my quarters soon,” Theo asked, a hopeful smile on her face. 

Ava felt horrible, she was going to have to turn Theo down. She didn’t know what to say. The last thing she wanted to do was spend a couple of hours in a room alone with Theo after Ava just found out what her role in this whole thing was. But at the same time, she really wanted to spend time with Theo; which was a thought she pushed aside to examine at a later point in time. Theo looked dejected and the way the girls were yelling during the assembly would have made Ava cry. She wanted to be there for Theo, her new Captain, but she couldn’t. It took all Ava’s will power to turn Theo down. She couldn't trust herself not to spill her secret, not with all the guilt built up in her chest. 

Ava looked up and Theo and offered a polite smile, “I was going to head to bed after I finished this page, actually. I’m sorry, it’s just been a long few suns.”

“I understand. You need time to rest,” Theo answered quickly and rubbed her hands together awkwardly, “Tomorrow when you wake up, stop by my quarters. We’ll talk about training and what job you’re going to start with.” 

Theo kept a smile on her face as she exited the room. After she shut the door she pressed her back up against it and let out a deep breath. She didn’t want to admit to herself how much that had stung. A rejection, from someone who was on sun zero of being a pirate. More than that, a rejection from Ava. It shouldn’t have affected her the way it did but she felt awkward and embarrassed and ready to crawl into a hole. Theo had figured that if anyone on the ship would not be upset with her it would have been Ava. 

Theo could not get a firm read on her. Was she genuinely feeling sick, was she still torn up about her kill the sun before, or was she angry at Theo for concealing what the lead was? It was messing with her more than it should and as a captain, she should have been less concerned with the opinion of Ava. However, as much as she tried, she couldn’t stop thinking about it. She walked away from the library and back onto the deck, figuring that she might as well get to work and help the crew. She wanted to find Cooker and ask her why she felt the need to leave a crew wide assembly but in the grand scheme of things, Theo could let that go. Plus, she had a feeling Cooker would not any more inclined to have a conversation than Navi or Ava were. 

The reception from the women on the night shift was icy at best. No matter what part of the ship or who she worked with, it was either barely polite conversation or complete silence. After a few hours, her ego could not take the lack of attention her crew was giving her, and she retired into her room. Theo felt a bit childish for reacting in the way she was. Her crew had every right to hold onto a grudge with her at least for a few suns but because of it, she was shutting herself in her room to mope. 

Theo realized as she sat at her desk, door open as she promised it would be, that she hadn’t checked in on Morgana at all. It wasn’t from a lack of thinking about Morgana, Theo’s mind had frequently reminded her that she needed to go see her friend but fear was preventing her from it. She did not want to walk into Tuni’s and get an update she didn’t want to hear. Three suns was Tuni’s magic number. If she could get an injured person to survive infection for three suns they were more likely to make it out alive. Theo wanted so badly just to wait the three suns but she knew that it would be far too long. Morgana was family. Theo didn’t think she could live without her friend and Theo didn’t want Morgana feeling any other way. She decided her first order of business in the morning would be to go pay Mor a visit.

For the time being, she thought it was best to just go to bed. It had been a long sun. What started off as a promising morning quickly turned into an emotional sun. Theo had managed to turn everyone against her in the span of one sun and couldn’t get any one of them to see her side of things. She climbed into bed and opted to leave her door open, making true on her promise that she was available for her crew at whatever time.


	16. Visitors

To say Ava got a few minutes of sleep would be an overstatement. She spent her night in a cloudy haze, a peculiar mix of awake but asleep. In her foggy state, her dreams and her thoughts ran rampant all night. Earlier she had felt that she had no time or space to be able to take a breath and think through everything. She had been wishing for that feeling all night, begging to have anything but time and space to think about all of her dilemmas.

There was the issue of becoming a pirate. There was the issue of her father. There was the issue of killing a man that she hadn’t fully dealt with. Oh, and lest she forget, her sister and Cooker were an item when she was younger which she would have never seen coming in a million lengths. All of the thoughts bounced around her head in a loop. Fear building up in her chest for every minute she spent tossing and turning. She could end up failing the test to become a pirate and be back at square one. If she did make it, there was only a matter of time before she was discovered and when that happened Ava wasn’t sure she wouldn’t be skinned alive. 

She dreamt of her chambermaid pushing her off a cliff, the cliff more specifically. It was a dream she had been having the whole journey down Elox. It was one she knew well, the begging and the screaming not to be pushed off. A new nightmare arose that night though, it was of her father standing alone in a pitch-black room. She began to walk towards him but all around him, flames began to rise. Ava looked down at the flames to see faces and hands within it, reaching out and yelling at her father. Some of the faces were ones she recognized, townspeople from her home in Aubermasse, travelers she had encountered throughout her journeys, and some of the women aboard the ship. She couldn’t make out what they were yelling at him, the only thing clear from their voices was the agony carried with each unintelligible word. Her father showed no signs of a reaction, staring off into the distance. Cold and calculated, like she remembered him. A rage began to fill up inside her, she began yelling at him as well. Ava ran towards him, pulling out her blade and ready to attack but the flames burned her when she tried to get through. 

She had awoken from the nightmare with a start, heart racing and eyes darting around the room. It was still taking her time to adjust to being on the lower deck, no light at night to help her see. Her heart began to calm down but her thoughts hadn’t. Why was that her dream? Why was she trying to kill her father? The rage she felt inside her though was familiar, it was what she had felt for sixteen years. Her father and her mother would often cast her aside, ignored her opinions or thoughts, and constantly chastised and punished her. It was part of the reason it was so easy to run away, she never belonged at home. 

To everyone Umbar Vaith interacted with, he was the pinnacle of charisma and power but to his family, he was not the warm man everyone thought he was. Ava had gotten the shit end of the stick for sure but he wasn’t much better off than any of his children or his wife. He was impatient, often yelling or ridiculing someone when something was done incorrectly. He was rude, not worried about crushing someone’s feelings, disguising it as the truth. And lastly, he was scary. When Ava was nine, she had brought back a few friends she had made in the city, all four had no last names. They played in the garden for hours until it was supper time and they had to go home. Ava was brought to her father’s chambers and admonished for doing such a brash thing as bringing peasants to the Aubermasse Estate. She was confined to her room for four cycles, just long enough to miss the celebration of her 10th commencement anniversary. A party was thrown in her honor, in the garden right below her window but she wasn’t allowed to attend. She spent the sun watching her family and the great houses from all-around Elox play and feast together. When her punishment was over he brought her back to his chambers and explained if Ava were to ever make the same mistake that Lord Vaith would have no choice but to arrest both the children and the parents for violating the law and trespassing onto a noble estate. 

Ava should have seen it sooner. All of the books she had been reading talked about the evil inherent within the noble class, her father wasn’t the exception. His cruel tricks towards his family were nothing compared to the devastation he had probably caused throughout Baethos. She committed herself to read about it. That would be her next objective. Understand who she really was, where she really came from. She felt stupid. She felt like an absolute idiot, walking around the whole time in blissful ignorance. How did everyone around her seem to know about him except his daughter? How indoctrinated was she? 

These thoughts ran through her head until she fell asleep again. This time, another nightmare. It was her and the man she had killed. It was the scene in front of her again. Nothing was different, she saw Morgana drop, Tuni go after her, Tuni get attacked and then Ava sank the knife into the man, twice. When she woke up from that nightmare, it wasn’t fear that was running through her. It was guilt, that man probably had a family. Pushing past the guilt, there was nothing. No regret, no disgust, no sadness. Shock? Sure. Ava did not think she had it in her. Confusion? Absolutely. But nothing else. 

Ava didn’t understand why she wasn’t repulsed. Theo had said she was affected by it but it took a while to set in. But it had been two suns and Theo said it only took her one. What if it never set in, did that make her a freak?

She reached under her hammock and pulled out her dagger from it’s hiding place. She twisted it around in her hand, looking at the blade. Perfectly sharp and clean, no indicators that it had been the death of someone only 48 hours prior. She found herself aimlessly tracing the pattern on the hilt of the dagger and thinking back to Theo. Keeping this secret was going to be hard. Theo and Ava had honest conversations, they were surface level most of the time but Ava stuck as close to the truth as possible. The Vaith name carrying the weight that it did meant that she would now have to filter everything she said, double back and check her story was airtight, and try to steer the conversation away from family and hometowns. Just until it was the right time to tell Theo and the crew, the time would come where she would have a place on this ship and no one would want harm to come to her. Or, she would fail at being a pirate and her identity wouldn’t even matter because she would be dropped off in some random city along their route. Only time would tell.

She saw the sun begin to peek through the entrance to the lower decks. There was no point in going back to sleep, not when the nightmares were likely to keep coming. She put her dagger away and sat on the hammock, staring at the wall. It was only a little while until she could go see Theo, even for a little bit. She missed their nightly talks and Ava, as she had been doing, pushed down analyzing her emotions about any further. Focus on being a pirate. Focus on flying under the radar, she told herself. 

It felt like forever before she was able to get up and leave her room. She got tired of waiting and ended up going to the infirmary. From her many nights spent in the infirmary at the beginning of time there, she knew Tuni woke up early. She walked across the deck and into Tuni’s room, the beds laid out and empty. Morgana was not in there. 

“Where is she?” Ava asked, a little panicked. Had something happened overnight?

“She’s so stubborn,” Tuni shook her head, “Insisted she stay in our room. Hurt herself getting there and has spent 12 hours sleeping off the effort.” 

Ava peeked into the open door leading to their shared chambers. She saw a figure sleeping in the bed. Other than Tuni in the infirmary and Morgana sleeping in her room, there was no one else with them. 

“How is she doing though? Is she making good progress?” Ava asked. 

“Aye, I reckon she’ll be just fine in a while. She’s fought off any infection for now so we’ll hope it stays that way. She’s sleeping a lot but that is normal,” Tuni replied to shake any concerns Ava had. 

“Can I see her once she wakes up?”

“Oh of course love,” Tuni answered, “I’m sure she’d love to see you. How have you been? I have been so caught up with Morgana I never got a chance to sit down with you.” 

“It’s nothing to worry about,” Ava offered a smile, “I’ve been busy with my own thoughts so I’m sure I wouldn’t have made the greatest conversation partner.” 

“Any of those thoughts something you want to share?” Tuni asked, wanting to help Ava through whatever it was she was alluding too. 

“Nothing important,” Ava lied. She wished she could just tell Tuni, the woman who’s kind eyes had helped her on her first morning on the ship. The woman who had made her feel welcome and secure and helped her through being sick. 

Ava sat down in a chair that was strewn out around the infirmary and began to strike up a light conversation with the healer. Tuni recounted her previous sun and talked all about the different potions and remedies she used on her significant other sleeping in the other room. Tuni steered the conversation as far from Theo as possible. A relief for Ava who also found it odd, it was unlike the healer not to at least mention their captain in conversation. The assembly did not even come up which lead Ava to believe Tuni was cross with Theo. Was everyone on the ship as angry with the captain as Cooker was? Ava felt even worse for rejecting Theo the night before, she probably had no one to speak to. 

“I’m running out of my pearl ointment, it numbs the pain in whatever area you apply it. They don’t sell it on any mainlands, supposed to be for official hospital use only but I can get it by the crate in Niveal,” Tuni held up a jar of white cream that shone like a pearl catching the light. 

A smile was plastered on Ava’s face at the mention of Niveal, “I’ve always wanted to go. I’ve heard so much about it. Is it as lawless and wild as people say?” 

Ava had always studied Niveal. In her politics class, they always analyzed difficult political situations, how they happened, and what solutions worked for it. Niveal was never solved. It was a highly debated topic at the important dinners she was allowed to attend. If anyone wanted to have an interesting conversation, they would bring up Niveal. Despite the political turmoil going on, making people with money often frequented Niveal and brought back grand stories of its illicit activities. 

“I’ve found that people often make it out to be chaotic from the second you land. It’s not. It’s quite beautiful. The port and the city center are usually quite chaotic because of all the vendors but once you get into the districts it calms down a bit and you are easily left to your illegal activity.” Tuni explained, “Careful with your money though. The stories about Niveal burning a hole in your pocket are always true.”

Ava was going to shoot off a retort about how it wouldn’t be a problem given she had about 3 silvers left when they heard a grumble from the room. Tuni practically jumped out of her chair and went to go check on her girlfriend. Ava heard whispers for a few minutes, a back and forth between them. Tuni was presumably checking in with the injured vanguard leader and making sure everything was in order. After a few minutes, Tuni invited her inside the room to speak with Morgana. 

Morgana was laying in bed with her silver hair taken out of its normal braid. She was propped up in bed with a pillow behind her and a loose white killigrew shirt on. She looked tired but better than Ava expected someone to look two suns after they had been stabbed. Ava sat in the wooden chair next to the bed, Tuni’s usual sitting place since Morgana had been injured. Morgana flashed her a classic wide Morgana grin.

“How are you feeling?” Ava asked, unsure of what else to say. 

“Could be better but I also could be worse. Could be dead by now but I’m not,” Morgana admitted, “Thank you, Red. For saving me and Fortune…” 

“Of course. I’m a pirate now,” Ava joked, “gotta have your back.” 

“I’m serious. I owe you my life, Ava. You saved us,” Morgana reached over as best she could and patted Ava on the knee, “You killed your first person… How are you holding up?”

Ava just shrugged. She had just spent most of the night thinking about it, she felt no need to rehash it. No need to be told that it’ll hit her eventually and she should just let herself feel. There was nothing to feel. She was shocked in the moment, horrified. But it had passed and those feelings hadn’t returned. Ava already felt on thin ice because of her background, she didn’t need something else to separate her from the other pirates. 

“I am the leader of the vanguard, Red. I’ve watched hundreds of people go through their first kill. It’s okay if you’re not okay,” Morgana tried to get through to Ava, to get her to talk. 

“I am okay though, that is the problem,” Ava admitted. 

Morgana stayed silent for a bit and Ava regretted saying anything. 

“So, like, you feel fine. Just maybe a little bit of leftover shock. Some residual guilt but nothing else?” Morgana asked. 

Ava nodded. It was as if Morgana had a transcript of her internal monologue. Either that or she had experience with people and their different forms of coping. 

“Aye,” Morgana chuckled a bit then groaned bringing a hand to her side, “you were born for the vanguard, it’s what I’ve been saying this whole time.” 

“What is that supposed to mean?” 

“For my first kill, I felt guilty for a little bit. Shocked. Grossed out. That was about it. I kept waiting and waiting for the dread, the tears, the disgust. It never hit me. Never told anyone about the way I felt. Acted solemn for a few suns to avoid questions. I didn’t realize I wasn’t alone until I joined this crew. We tend to talk about feelings here, as much as I hate it, and this topic comes up from time to time. I’ve learned since then to talk about it for myself. All of that to say, most of the gals on the vanguard felt the same way when they first killed. It’s macabre to say but only a certain type of person can be on the vanguard.” Morgana explained. 

“But Theo was on the vanguard. She was the leader of one. She told me she felt something her first time,” Ava pointed out. 

“Aye, Theo is a big softie. Not all of them affect her but it gets hard sometimes,” Morgana shrugged, “She’s got grit. She knows how to work through it, she’s an exception. Don’t get it twisted either, Red, some of the people you kill will affect you. You won’t ride this wave of invincibility forever.” 

Leave it to Morgana to always make everything sound more ominous than it needed to be. Ava got more out of the conversation than she was expecting though, which was a bonus. She hadn’t finished the process of being able to justify her feelings and actions about the murder she had committed but it was nice to know that Ava was not alone. The thought of being on the vanguard was also thrilling. She remembered back to that moment when the battle began before she had gotten turned off from the bloody scene in front of her, the awe she had felt. She wanted to do that. 

“Enough about me,” Ava tried to steer the conversation elsewhere, “Think you’ll be back on your feet for Niveal?” 

“The question isn’t whether I’d be ready, it is a question of whether Tuni is ready to let me out into the world again,” Morgana laughed, making the same mistake again of hurting her side in the process.

“You’re too funny for your own good,” Ava chuckled, poking fun of the wounded soldier. 

“Point is, I probably will not be allowed off the ship. If that is the case I need you to do me a favor,” Morgana stated. 

Ava laughed a little bit. The last person she expected Morgana to trust with a favor was her, someone who was the most recent addition to the ship, “Sure. Whatever you need. But fair warning I do not know anything about Niveal or where to get anything.” 

“You being a newcomer to Niveal is precisely why I need you. First-timers never go too hard. One sun during every visit to Niveal Theo, Xyra and I go shopping. Sometimes other people come. I’m going to give you a list, I need you to go shopping with them and get me what I need,” Morgana did not state it as a question, it was a command. 

Ava was not looking forward to that, having to spend a whole sun with Theo and Xyra. Two of the most important people on the ship. She didn’t understand why it fell on her and not on literally anyone else Morgana knows.

“Why me?”

“Theo cannot be trusted when she is on Niveal. The attention she gets from everyone there gets to her head. She gets drunks and spends money and she would forget about my list and spend my money. Xyra is worse than Tuni when it comes to saving money so I would get zero things on my list if I gave it to her. You, my dear Red, need my vote if you want to become a pirate so it falls on you,” Morgana said, trying not to laugh. 

“You just said you owe me your life. I can trade that in for a vote,” Ava reminded, half-joking, “But I’ll do it.”

Ava wanted an excuse to be around Theo if she was being honest. Also, Xyra started to be nicer and warmer to her so some time around her couldn’t hurt. Ava needed to try and form friendships with everyone on the crew if she wanted to stick around. They wouldn’t vote her out if she was their friend. Plus, this favor meant Morgana trusted her, and Ava did not want to entirely mess up that opportunity. 

“Great, once we land, come by and I’ll get you that list,” Morgana smiled and Tuni appeared in the doorway. 

“Theo is here to see you,” Tuni said, with a tight smile, “I’ll send her in once you’re done with Ava.” 

“I’m done,” Ava said standing up. Theo walked into the room and smiled at both of them, holding her hat in her hands. 

“Ava, hello. Good Morning. Xyra is in my quarters and she’s been briefed on your assignment. Once you’re ready, you can go over there and she’ll be ready to explain it all to you,” Theo said warmly as if the previous night had never happened. 

Ava said her goodbyes to all of them and made her way to the captain’s quarters. She might as well have gotten started on her morning. She walked into the open door and Xyra noticed her straightaway. 

“Morning, ready for your assignment?” Xyra wasted no time. 

“Aye,” Ava said. 

Xyra grabbed a sign and nailed it to the door and then motioned Ava to follow. They made their way into the deck. 

“You are being assigned to carpentry. You’ll be there for three suns. If Evana likes you she’ll keep you for another three suns. The three suns will keep renewing until she’s made a decision to keep you on her team or that you are not right for it. Any questions?” Xyra finished. 

Of course, Ava had questions. She had a million questions. What would she be doing? Was it okay if she didn’t have any previous experience? What if she cut off a body part? They were quickly approaching the carpentry room and Ava was trying to find the right question to ask. 

“Who am I working with? What are their names and some facts about them?” Ava landed on. 

“You are so fucking weird. That is what you ask?” Xyra shook her head. 

“You’re wasting time, please Xyra,” Ava prodded. Admittedly, it was silly to ask but Ava wanted to know about the people she was going to spend time working with.

“Evana is from Efriti. She’s been with us since the beginning. She’s the head carpenter and she is usually very down to business. Then you have Skins. She’s been with us for half a length. She’s technically not even a pirate. Hasn’t been sworn in on pirate island yet but she’s been voted in. Not sure where she is from though, I wasn’t there when she was vetted,” Xyra droned on, being more helpful than Ava thought she would be, “Chubs is from Dove Island. She is very skinny, that is the whole point of the name but she hates people pointing it out so don’t say anything about it. Then there is Rita, she’s Chub’s best friend. From Elox and always fighting with Chubs. It’s annoying, don’t get involved.” 

“Why not?” Ava asked.

“Sometimes Ava it’s best to just do, not ask,” Xyra sighed and stopped in front of their destination. “Good luck.” 

Xyra had turned around and left just as quickly as she had come to drop Ava off. Ava recalled the information that she was told so that the faces would stick to the names once they had introduced themselves. She was excited about her first official assignment. She drew in a deep breath before walking in, hoping that she would ace it in carpentry and find an easy fit on the ship.

\-------------

Theo had woken up in the morning and paced around her room trying to get the nerves to go visit Morgana. With all of the crew angry with her, she didn’t want to face Morgana and Tuni too. Xyra walked in as she was pacing. 

“What’s with you?” Xyra asked. 

“Nervous. Have to go see Morgana and I haven’t yet,” Theo explained. 

“Just go. It won’t be that bad. I went to go see her last night and she didn’t seem mad,” Xyra tried to assure Theo. 

“She didn’t?” Theo was surprised. Morgana always loved a bit of drama. 

“No, but Tuni was… So, best to just get in there talk to Morgana and get out. Tuni’s scary when she’s angry.”

“Aye, she is,” Theo said, “Fuck. Alright, I guess I’ll go. I need you to do a few things for me. Write a sign that says I am not here right now but if they need me, just to find me. Also that I’ll be back soon. Something along those lines, I don’t care. And then Ava is supposed to come by at some point. She’s training in carpentry. Just take her down there and explain the training process again.”

Xyra nodded and set behind the desk and began to shuffle papers around, trying to find a blank one to write on. Theo stood in the middle of the room, unmoving and Xyra looked up from the papers. 

“Go.” 

Theo huffed and turned on her heel, walking out. She made her way straight across the deck and to Tuni’s. Walking in, she saw Tuni in her usual spot. She looked up when Theo walked in and her neutral expression turned sour. 

“Good morning, Tuni. I’ve come to see Morgana,” she said. 

“Took you long enough. She’s in there with someone. You’ll have to wait,” Tuni said. To be honest, Tuni had never been mad at Theo before. Theo had seen Tuni mad but Theo was never on the receiving end of it. This was a different side of Tuni, not the usually warm motherly Tuni she was used to. 

“You wanna talk about it?” Theo tried, “Say what’s bothering you so I can work on fixing it.” 

“I have nothing to say to you right now, Captain,” Tuni stood up and made her way to her room, speaking with Morgana about Theo’s presence.

Theo took off her hat and held it in her hands, gripping it tightly. She heard a few voices coming from the room, when she stepped in she saw Ava and smiled at her. They greeted each other but Ava made her way out of the room fairly quickly. It was just her and Morgana, who was sitting up in the bed with the help of some pillows. Theo walked over to where Ava had been sitting and took a seat. 

“Sorry I haven’t been by,” Theo started. She wanted to get that apology out before anything else, she really was sorry. 

“No need to worry. Sounds like you’ve been busy doing damage control,” Morgana teased. 

“You’ve heard what happened then?” Theo asked, hand coming up to rub her neck. 

“Aye, hard not to hear of your sins when everyone that’s come in to see me has talked about it. Tuni has been the worst of all,” Morgana admitted and Theo winced at that. 

Having the crew be mad at her was one thing, but having Tuni as a part of that group was another. Tuni was like Rose, she usually did not meddle in the dramatic affairs of the ship. She liked to be neutral for the most part, offering a shoulder to cry on for all parties involved. Theo crossed a line with Tuni like never before and Theo was at a loss for where to even begin making up for it. 

“And you’re not angry?” Theo asked to confirm. This was not adding up, Morgana loved any excuse to be dramatic and hold a grudge. 

“Nah,” Morgana said, “I don’t have the energy right now to be angry. Plus, I don’t give a fuck about you lying to us. If it was what was best for the crew, then fine by me. I know I am at the center of danger a lot but that doesn’t mean I want to die. Not scared of it but not something I am actively seeking. So when you say you were trying to protect us, I believe you. Plus, Vaith? We’d be going into it with one ship? Fuck no. You did the right thing, mate. You’re fucked now. Fucked beyond compare but it was the right hill to die on.” 

Theo laughed and shook her head. Morgana was blunt, that much was a fact. Theo felt a tiny sliver of her guilt fade away. At least there was one other person on the ship that didn’t abhor her. Morgana was right though, Theo was fucked. She suspected that the wall being put up by her crew would not come down anytime soon and as of that moment she had two people on her side, Morgana and Xyra. 

“So, tell me then. How did the great Morgana end up being injured on the battlefield?” Theo asked, crossing one leg over the other. 

“Fuck if I know, Cap. One second I was fighting and the next I felt a stab and I’m out like a light. Fucker hit me with the hilt of his blade. I was off, I don’t know how or why,” Morgana dropped the joking demeanor she usually had. She was concerned. 

Theo would have been concerned if she didn’t know what it was like to be a fighter. There were just some bad fights. Morgana would likely take this as a lesson and train \ harder than ever before but to Theo, Morgana was no less of a fighter than she was before she got hurt. 

“We all have some suns where we are off our game… Sometimes those suns happen to be training suns and sometimes they happen to be fights. Don’t beat yourself up over it, Mor. You’re still the best fighter I got,” Theo tried to cheer her up. Going through recovery and not being able to be out with the crew was making Morgana glum already, Theo didn’t want to add to her pile of sadness. 

“Aye, guess so,” Morgana brushed it off and Theo knew she didn’t take any of what was said to heart, “Oi, since Tuni probably wants me to stay on bed rest for Niveal, Ava is going with you to the shopping district.”

“She’s agreed to that?” Theo asked, surprised. Ava did not seem in any mood to spend time with Theo last night if the awkward exchange in the library was any indication. 

“Aye, why do you ask?”

“Last night I asked her to come by my room just to talk, you know, how we have been. She said no, that she was going to head to bed soon. It was bullshit, she’s a terrible liar. She was just blowing me off so I assumed she was upset with me too,” Theo reasoned. 

“She hasn’t mentioned you so I wouldn’t know,” Morgana reported. 

“Oh,” Theo was hoping that Morgana could provide some insight on their newest recruit. 

“Aw, is someone hurt that their special friend won’t come to play with them,” Morgana faked a frown. 

Theo laughed and stood up, putting her hand over Morgana's side, “I have a powerful slap and I’m not afraid to use it.”

“I'm just speaking from observation. Seems like you’ve got a thing for the rich girl,” Morgana teased. 

“I do not,” Theo said, removing her hand from threatening Morgana. 

“Mhm. Whatever you say. You forget I’ve known you for a while,” Morgana said and it was true. Morgana had been close with Theo for as long as she had been on the ship. 

“I have not forgotten. I’ll be back for lunch,” Theo said and made her way to the doorway, wanting to leave the conversation as quickly as she could. She walked out after telling Tuni that she would be bringing their lunch. 

Theo did not like Ava, Ava was simply a breath of fresh air. She liked to talk with someone so different. Theo rolled her eyes and scoffed to herself as she made her way back into her quarters.


	17. An Election

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!!!!! just a reminder that my twitter is @habitdyke ! if you have any comments about my story I would love to hear them!!!!! thank you for following along!

Ava’s first shift on carpentry couldn’t have gone any worse. Well, she left with all of her limbs intact so it could have gone a lot worse but she had a feeling that she would not be sticking in carpentry. She knew none of the tools, how to work any of the equipment, or how to be safe in the woodshop. It was probably funny to the others how awful she was at it. 

It was clear halfway through the sun that she was holding up progress more than helping. She found a spot to stand that was out of the way and instead provided conversation and entertainment with stories about her snobby siblings. Evana, the lead, never spoke. Skins, Chubs, and Rita though would not stop talking. At first, Ava tried working and listening to Evana through the first hours of the morning, ignoring the conversations in the shop like Evana was doing. After lunch, when she began paying attention to the conversation she found their banter hilarious. She began to build up the confidence to chime here and there. Her comments were well received every time and Ava didn’t feel ostracized by the close group of friends. 

She really made her presence and value known when she solved a problem for Skins. They had been talking about how one crew member owed her 300 gold. How Skins allowed for that amount of debt to pile up was beyond Ava but that wasn’t the point. After the Espbar treasure, each crew member walked away with a share of 500 gold coins each. Now that Jav, the person who owed money, had enough to pay the debt, Skins was demanding payment in full. Jav didn’t want to pay the full thing, especially because they were about to get to Niveal which she needed money for. Ava understood both sides, Jav had gotten herself in that mess in the first place but she understood Jav’s reluctance to give it up. 

Ava had a feeling that Jav wasn’t going to give in and neither was Skins so Ava proposed her own solution. After a while of hearing them go back and forth, she had found a solution that might appeal to Skins. 

“Why don’t you just ask for payments in installments? She doesn’t seem to want to give up all her money and you deserve your money back. Maybe meeting in the middle will help?” Ava offered. 

“And what’s to make her pay me back quickly and not one gold every cycle?” Skins turned around to face Ava. 

“At the end of the length, you impose a fee if it hasn’t been paid back in full. For every gold she is in debt she owes you an additional five silvers. 50 percent interest,” Ava elaborated, “That way you are getting paid and she is happy with not parting with so much of her money at once. Plus, it acts as a way to save money. Can’t spend it if you don’t have it,” Ava pointed out, another thing she had learned through her observation of the women was they were all shit with money. 

Skins had stopped her work momentarily to stare at Ava. Ava just stared back, waiting to answer any other questions Skin’s might ask. Instead, Skins just nodded and turned around. 

“I’ll talk to Jav,” she said and without another word, the conversation was over. 

Ava had noticed on the ship there were no formalities or normal greetings. It was straight to the point and when a conversation was over, that was that. It was funny to Ava, a quirk about the ship she enjoyed. Besides that, it was an uneventful sun where she learned nothing else except she was not Evana’s next carpentry prodigy. For the next two suns, she worked in the woodshop getting to know the women down there. By the end of her term there, she had a regular back and forth with the women and she was quite invested in their problems. She had learned the Chubs and Rita both lived together in one bedroom but they were just friends. Skins lived in the lower deck and Ava found ou that many of the women on the ship owed her money. 

Ava proposed helping her form a plan and write a list of everyone that owed her so she could keep track and make sure she was getting paid back. Skins took her up on it and they spent a few nights in the lower decks discussing the new payback system over dim candlelight. When Ava’s three suns were up and she went back up to figure out her new assignment, she was in for a shock. She was being reassigned for another three suns to carpentry or until they reached Niveal. Ava was at a loss. 

“Evana says you keep the girls at bay and they work more when you are there,” Xyra said when Ava asked the reason why. 

Ava had mixed feelings, she wanted to find her place in the ship. Find a job where she could contribute and give back but she was also happy to be able to spend a few more suns solidifying a relationship with the three girls below deck. They were exciting, funny, and welcoming. Ava returned to her spot in the woodshop. Content with spending the next few suns down there. 

\-----

Theo spent her time leading up to the eve before landing in Niveal either busting her ass trying to work as hard as she could or cooped up in Morgana’s room. She helped the crew with sailing, she took the lonely job of the lookout for a few hours every aftermorning, she checked on everyone to make sure they were okay, she spent time in her office in case anyone wanted to chat with her. No one ever came by but she had promised so there she was. Ava never came by either. Not that Theo cared much, at all. 

Tuni had warmed up to her little by little. By the fourth sun of bringing them their meals, Tuni was finally having full conversations with Theo. Theo felt it best if she didn’t use any charming tricks with Tuni, just honesty and genuine care was the way with her. She brought them up every meal, spent quality time with her injured friend, and helped Tuni with Morgana as well. Tuni went from saying a few words to speaking in full sentences. They even had a talk at one point, Tuni was sitting in bed next to a sleeping Morgana and Theo occupied her usual chair next to the bed. 

“I’m not upset about the secret you kept. I’m upset that you lied. Not about the lead. That you lied to us about never keeping anything from us. Never keeping anyone in the dark,” Tuni had admitted once Morgana fell asleep. 

Theo nodded and listened. Tuni talked about her feelings and the impact it caused to the crew. She echoed sentiments she had heard around the ship. The crew all felt the same way, angry at the deception. Some also felt angry about the nature of the lead, it being Vaith and all. Others were not too upset in general, there were more laidback women not wholly invested in the politics of the ship but even they still felt the need to be angry in solidarity. Theo got a lot out of just sitting and listening to Tuni, Theo began to think of a way out of the solitary limbo she was in. 

After Tuni had finished speaking, Theo spoke up, “I’m sorry. I know my actions have had a deep impact on everyone on this crew. And I am sorry for lying to you, Fortune. I love you and I don’t want to hurt you or Morgana or anyone on this crew.” 

Tuni simply nodded and turned her attention back to her sleeping partner. Theo spent so much time with them in just a few suns she began to get a bit sick from the tenderness between them. It wasn’t jealousy, per se. Just annoyance that they could be so happy and cute and couple-y and Theo had no one. Romantically or in any other way at the moment. She knew she had been being a bit too self-pitying in the past suns but she allowed herself to do so. 

When she left the infirmary that night, she did so intending to have a solution to the tension by the end of the next sun. She made it to her quarters where Xyra was reading a book on Theo’s bed. 

“I’m calling for an election tomorrow,” Theo said and walked behind her desk. 

Xyra did not hesitate to slam her book shut and get up, “You are doing what?” 

“I’m calling an election, Xy,” Theo said. 

“You got reconfirmed into your role as Captain before we got to Barian. That was less than a quarter length ago. It’s idiotic to call an election,” Xyra tried to talk reason into Theo. Calling an election was political suicide. Xyra didn’t need to go talk to the crew to see where the votes lied to know that if Theo called an election she wasn’t guaranteed to keep her spot as captain.

“I’ve got no mandate right now. I need to either be their captain or not be their captain. Not this in-between shit. An election gives me a chance to let them know my platform. Reaffirm that I have their best interests at heart and if that is not what they want then they can boot me. I do not want to be a captain of a ship that does not want me as their captain,” Theo stood firm in her decision. 

“And if you do not win the election, what then?” 

“Then you become captain until an official vote can happen after a cycle of campaigning. You know the ship’s rule. We wrote them together,” Theo stated, knowing Xyra knew and was asking to follow up with a point. 

“I do not want to be captain,” she said, “Not for a cycle or any period after that either. That is what we agreed upon when we decided you would captain the ship. Don’t fuck me on this Theo,” Xyra was almost pleading. 

Theo shook her head, “I’m sorry, Xyrabellis. I cannot lead where I am not leading by the choice of the voting body.” 

“I swear I’m going to tell Cooker to stop reading you all her cooked up political nonsense. This isn’t a government! You do not need to abide by any rules,” Xyra leaned on the desk. 

“I do not need to, I want to! I want to be the haven I promised these women when they boarded. They don’t trust me right now. I need a chance to win them over, if that fails then it fails. I have to accept the consequences of my actions,” Theo said, “I do not want to be the captain of a ship that doesn’t talk to me. 

Xyra looked stressed. Theo knew she would. It truly was a gamble and Theo had no idea how the chips would fall once the votes were counted. Xyra’s biggest nightmare was to become captain which was unfortunate given her position as the first mate. Theo couldn’t budge though. During elections, she needed a simple majority to get the captaincy but she had no idea where the votes lied. Xyra stopped leaning on the desk then rubbed her face. 

“I’ll go see where the votes lie. Fuck, Theo. Why do you always make things so complicated? You couldn’t have decided this suns ago so I had at least a little time to work with it?” Xyra asked rhetorically, walking out of the room and slamming the door on her way out. 

Theo had to prepare her case for the next sun. She would have a short time to present a speech as her bid for the captaincy. Anybody else in the audience also had a choice to present their speech if they intended on running. With her door closed, Xyra gone, and the expectation that no one would come in and request an audience, Theo began her thinking process. 

\----

The election was held in the mess hall. All of the chairs and tables were arranged in a horseshoe formation with Theo, Xyra, and Cooker in the front of the room. Cooker was always the moderator for elections. She made sure there was a fair process in place and she confirmed the count of the votes. As the first mate, Xyra was up there as well. Theo was seated in the center of the horseshoe, with the women all around her. 

The election had been announced in the morning and it came as a shock to everyone. The mess hall was packed and it had been for quite a while leading up to it. Everyone wanted the best seat in the house. Theo, as always, was dressed in her preferred expensive clothing. A rich blue coat open, no buttons on it. It revealed a simple white shirt underneath and blue pants. She wore shiny leather boots and jewelry that adorned her hands, neck, and ears. She looked like a captain. 

Once it was time, Cooker began her introduction. She recapped the issue at hand, the background behind the election and announced the candidate, Theo. She opened the floor for anyone else to announce a bid but no one did. It was only Theo. Theo then had a few minutes to give a speech. She stood up from her chair and straightened out her clothes. She took stock of the room, it was packed with all of her crew and she felt at peace with her decision, whatever the outcome was. She cleared her throat and took a sip of ale in the cup she was holding before beginning. 

“This may seem out of the blue. Insane. Career suicide,” Theo said and the whole room broke out into light laughter. Theo smiled, it was the best response she had gotten in suns, “but I felt this was needed, ladies. Here is the thing, I don’t want to lead on a boat where I am not chosen as your leader every sun. I want you to wake up and be happy with the person running the ship. I made a mistake, a huge one and I’ll own up to that. Because of that, I have been shut out methodically. Every aspect of this ship, I have been ostracized from. That is okay, it’s a punishment fit to match the crime but I want to be able to move past this.” 

Theo took a look around the room. She had seemed to pull their attention, even the girls who were usually in their own worlds were listening. 

“Whether we move past it and I am your captain or we move past it and I am your crewmate, that is up to you. If you find that what I have done is unforgivable and you don’t trust me to be your captain then I will gladly step down from my position. If you find it in your hearts to forgive me then we can move past this with me as your captain, this time sticking to my vows. I will be honest with you and I will put all major decisions up to a vote. But you also have to understand that I want what is best for all of you. So I will speak my mind during these votes. I will be honest with you about everything, including how I feel. Ultimately, the decisions will always be yours but I will try my damn hardest to make you all see reason when it is needed. That is all I have. Best not to drag this on anymore.” 

Theo sat back down in the chair. The women were beginning to chat amongst themselves. Cooker stood up, 

“We are now going to have time to discuss the candidate,” Cooker said, “Each person will have a brief moment to speak if they would like to. You can speak in support or against the candidate. The candidate will have some time to respond.” 

The room was quiet for a bit. People debating whether to speak or not. One woman stood up, her name was Sandy because of her sandy blonde hair, longer than any other person on the ship. 

“The army killed my brother and my husband on Vaith’s command. We deserve our vengeance and we cannot forgive you for taking it away from us,” Sandy said and there were cheers around her. 

“I should have told you, that much is true. However, I have not robbed you of your vengeance. I have given you a better shot at it. Vaith was escorted by three lightbringers. We would not have made it within firing range before we were torn apart. We need to expand, we need to recruit, we need to build a fleet. Then we can face Vaith. We can have his head on a pike. My plan was not to rob you of an opportunity to attack him but to allow you the opportunity to defeat him,” Theo explained herself. The women seemed to approve of her rebuttal. Having a chance to explain herself was proving the best remedy. 

Still, many other women stood up and angrily said their piece. Complaining about the betrayal or recounting their stories about the pain Vaith had brought on their families. Theo didn’t respond to any of those comments with anything other than an apology and a show of understanding that they were hurt. It seemed, though, that it wasn’t enough. The tide had once again turned back against her and the discussion became angrier and more heated. Theo felt votes slipping every time someone stood up. 

All of the women had spoken that wanted to except for one. It was someone who was notoriously quiet among her crew. She had only been with them for about a full length. She worked cannons and was always talked about highly by the women on the ship. Her name was Unab and she was one of the youngest women on the ship. She was standing amongst the mix of women and she looked around, trying to address all of them. 

“I know pain…” She said and then paused, “The councilmen are rotten and I know that first hand. I know what they’ve done to you and I know what they’ve done to me but imagine if we just died the same way everyone else we know did. In a humiliating defeat against an empire that cares not about what we need. Captain Theo was protecting us. She’s promised not to lie again and I think we need to put our trust in her again. 

One length ago, Theo found me in an alleyway and made sure I had a good place to sleep and money for at least a few cycles. She didn’t know me but she gave me money from her gold. She’s just like that, caring and kind. Theo has our interests at heart. I know firsthand how you all feel and the grudges you hold but I also know Theo has helped us all in ways we cannot repay. She is asking for one favor back from us and that is forgiveness and space to make it up to us. I will grant her the favor and help her build us a fleet,” Unab finished and sat down. 

A silence fell over the women. Theo neglected to reply and Cooker stood up, “That concludes our discussion. Theo, please leave the room while voting takes place.” 

Theo nodded and stood up, she waiting outside the mess hall as she heard Cooker go over the rules of voting. With Theo out of the room, they would have a chance to openly debate with each other. After the debate, each woman would get a token and they would place it in one bucket if they were in favor of her captaincy and another if they were against. Theo was moved by Unab’s comments but she hoped everyone else was too. She stood outside of the mess hall, unable to hear any debate points made. She was nervous, she wanted to win. 

It had been a rough few cycles where she was doubting her role as captain but now all of that seemed silly, she really wanted to win. All of the doubts were thoughts of the past. She was a good captain, she was a good pirate, she knew how to manage a good crew and she had a good team on her side. If she was reconfirmed, she would make changes to ensure she delivered on her ambitious promise of building a fleet. 

After what felt like an eon waiting outside and twisting her rings, she was called back in. Theo stood in the middle of the room where she had been sitting only a while before. The women all waited anxiously for the results, Theo included. None of the women were able to see how anyone else voted, it was all anonymous and the women were discouraged from talking about how they voted to avoid animosity within the crew. Xyra stepped forward, a captain’s hat in her hands. When an election was called for the captaincy or a reconfirmation happened, Theo would have to turn in the hat until she was confirmed in her role again. If Theo had won the election, the hat would be placed on her head. If not, Xyra would place it on her own head. As Xyra walked up next to Theo, Theo held her breath. 

After a few moments, she felt the touch of the hat against her head and she let out the breath she was holding. To her surprise, the women broke out into cheers. Theo’s plan didn’t backfire. She would be lying if she said her hands had not been trembling that whole time. The women, who had been icing her out for a while, had shown a complete change in the way they were cheering for her. One woman, Theo couldn’t pick out who it was, began a chant. 

_Fleet. Fleet. Fleet._

It caught like wildfire and the women were all stomping and calling it out.

Theo had effectively sent out a call to action. A motivator for the women. They had restocked the boat, each of them had a hefty sum of money and a new chapter for their ship was opening. They had their next mission, build a fleet. In the short time that Xyra had announced the results, the women had managed to roll a barrel of ale into the mess hall. They really knew how to find any excuse for a party. 

Theo took advantage of her new status as persona grata, she was their captain again. She rejoiced with them, drinking, singing, dancing on top of the tables but only for a while. It had been an exhausting sun for her, strategizing, planning, rehearsing and she was ready for some quiet. Once she felt her energy hit the depleted zone, she decided to make her exit. Theo leaving from nights of drinking was not uncommon and most of the women were drunk enough not to take notice once she did slip out. 

She made it up to the room and decided to get out of the multiple layers of fabric she had on. She pulled off her heavy coat and hung it back up in her large wooden wardrobe. She heard her door open and turned around to find Xyra. 

Xyra flashed her a relieved smile and Theo could tell Xyra had quite a few mugs of ale during the celebration. Xyra walked over to Theo and wrapped her long arms around the Captain. Theo laughed and hugged Xyra back then pulled away. 

“You stink of drink,” Theo commented as she began to unbutton her shirt. 

“That’s funny since I haven’t had a sip of any alcohol all night,” Xyra said with a goofy smile and made her way over to Theo’s desk and sat on it. 

“You’re as sober as the classifiers,” Theo laughed and chucked her shirt off into a corner, leaving her only with an undershirt and some pants on, “Was it close? The vote, I mean.”

Xyra shook her head and toyed with a quill that had been discarded on the desk, “Practically unanimous. Three votes against your captaincy.”

Theo was shocked. Three votes against her captaincy meant only one person didn't want her to be captain. Two women on the boat, Hop and Livi, voted against the majority every time based on principle. Theo never understood why but they did it every vote. Which meant if there were three votes, and two of those were Hop and Livi, that meant only one other person disapproved of her leading. Theo couldn’t have asked for a better result. 

“I’m a lucky son of a bitch then,” Theo laughed.

“I can’t tell you who voted against you,” Xyra reminded. 

“I know,” Theo chuckled at her drunk friend, “Hop and Livi and I don’t care who else.” 

“You would care if you knew who it was…” Xyra whispered, “I want to tell you so bad.” 

“Xy, no. It’s against the rules. I don’t need to know, seriously,” Theo said, trying to get through to drunk Xyra. 

“It was Navi,” Xyra let slip and covered her mouth with her hands. 

“Xyra!” Theo admonished her for breaking the rules. But had she heard correctly? Navi, one of her close crewmates and a friend. If there were any votes she thought she could count on tonight it was the eight women that were a part of her inner circle. To know she was the only one that truly voted against Theo hurt. 

“Sorry. She’s just so stupid sometimes. So so, stupid. She does that then asks me over to her room. As if,” Xyra complained. Only Navi had this effect on Xyra and Theo never understood why. Navi could get past Xyra’s uncrackable exterior more than anyone else could. 

“That doesn’t matter. Navi has her own choice and that is her right as a crew member to be able to cast her vote however she pleases,” Theo said and turned to her jewelry box, setting her chunky rings inside. 

It hurt and it sucked but Theo understood why Navi would do that. There was a petty streak there and Theo knew it. It wasn’t like Theo hadn’t hurt Navi too. If that was the only downside to the snap election she called then she would have to take it. She was still captain and she was being entrusted to build the fleet she’d always dreamed of. 

Theo turned around to the door when she heard it open and found Navi standing in the doorway. 

“Come in,” Theo said with a smile and she flashed a look at Xyra to be calm and collected. 

“Theo, just came in to talk about Niveal,” Navi said as she walked into the room. 

“Go ahead,” Xyra said and then covered her mouth silencing a hiccup. 

“Are you drunk?” Navi asked. 

“She is, what about Niveal?” Theo asked. 

“We land tomorrow on the fourth hour of the morning. We should be good to disembark by the sixth hour. We are sailing in through the south side of the island where there is a dock large enough for the ship,” Navi said. 

“That puts us right near the bars and casinos. The women will be appreciative of that, thanks Navi,” Theo said and walked over to her desk and took a seat, “Anything else?”

“I told Theo you voted against her,” Xyra spit out after not being able to hold the secret in. 

“Xyra!” Theo yelled again. Xyra was the most trustworthy person she had ever met until any substance was in her system. All logic and brain function went out the window for her. 

“What the fuck, Xyra?” Navi sighed and rubbed her face. 

“She’s not mad at you. I still am but she’s not,” Xyra said and held her hands up, hoping that would remedy the situation they were all in.

“I didn’t ask her, Nav. I explicitly asked her not to tell me,” Theo said and glared at Xyra, who could not see her. 

“Theo, I’m sorry,” Navi said, it seemed genuine. The icy demeanor began to melt. 

“Don’t be. It’s your vote and your voice. What kind of evolved leader am I if I just expected all your votes to be for me. That’s how you feel,” Theo reasoned. She wanted to move past this awkward conversation as fast as possible. She didn’t want to crack and show how it stung. 

“It’s not how I feel…” Navi admitted, “I thought no one would know. It was just my way of getting one final stupid hook in before letting the issue go. I knew you had the majority, everyone who was in the room during that debate knew. I knew it wasn’t going to affect you winning so I just cast no… It didn’t feel good. I shouldn’t have done it.” 

Theo stared at her sailing master. Hearing that was admittedly better than walking around thinking that an important asset to her crew had no belief in her as a captain. Navi had gotten one last punch in before closing the chapter on the matter. There was no apology, only regret, and Theo did not expect one. Theo was going to respond with some easy comment about it being all good but a rush of people into her room 

What Theo had hoped would be a quiet night, maybe a light smoke out on her balcony had turned into a packed room. Oceane, Cooker, Iona, and Pearl had come into the room each one of them trying to talk to each other. Trailing in behind the four of them though was someone Theo hadn’t expected to see that night, it was Ava. Looking slightly more timid than usual, she walked in and made eye contact with Theo. They smiled at each other and Ava waved her hand a little bit. 

Ava closed the door behind her and when she looked back over, Theo was still staring at her. Ava locked eyes with Theo and she felt like they were in a room alone, all other noise seemed to be drowned out. Theo was wearing far less than Ava had ever seen her in. Thinking back, Ava had never seen Theo without sleeves. Standing in the room with only an undershirt on Ava noticed the dark tattoos that ran up her arms. There were so many intricate designs and patterns and Ava had never seen anything so beautiful before. 

Theo’s gaze moved away from Ava and Ava let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. The mood in the room was quite different than the odd and out of place feeling Ava had been getting the past few suns. She had been spending time with Oceane and Iona in the lower decks at night, visiting Morgana and Tuni when she could, and reading with Cooker too. But none of them had been chipper and in the same room in a while and Ava was happy to see them all getting along again. Morgana and Tuni were missing and it was noticeable but at least Morgana was getting rest and healing nicely. 

Navi, who had managed to find a spot on the crowded bed that now held four people, pulled out a bag from her pocket. 

“I was going to save this to sell but I guess we can all partake,” Navi rolled her eyes and tossed the bag to Theo who caught it with catlike reflexes. 

Theo opened the bag and took a long smell, “Oh fuck, that is strong. Is that Ravci?” 

When Theo opened the bag, the smell of citrus was wafted around the room. Ravci, while not illegal in Baethean law, was highly frowned upon. It was a substance, less potent than Dragon’s Breath, that was smoked socially for a giddy and happy feeling. Ava recognized the smell because it was her youngest brother’s substance of choice. The citrusy smell it gave off was what always got her brother caught. Ava had never tried it, obviously, but she was finally ready. 

“Oi, red,” Theo called and Ava looked over, “there’s a free seat over here.” 

Theo motioned over to the chair next to her desk, the only comfortable surface left in her room to sit on. Theo took a seat in her desk chair and pulled out some small rectangular papers from her desk. Ava made her way over to the open seat. She watched as Theo shook out the sweet-smelling orange weed-like substance and began to roll them into small cigars. Conversation lit up all around them but Ava was not paying attention to anyone. She felt a little bad, these were the women that had provided her company over the past nights and here she was ignoring them. 

Ava honestly hadn’t realized how much she had missed her nightly talks with Theo until she was in the mess hall watching Theo give her speech. She was passionate and put together and Ava was always so impressed by the pirate captain. Ava watched as Theo’s hands expertly handled the Ravci and stared at how fast her hands were moving along the task. Her arms were slightly flexed as she went about her errand and Ava noticed how strong and defined Theo’s muscles were. The tattoos and the muscles were new, not something that could be easily spotted from the way Theo normally dressed. 

Theo caught her eyes a few times, smiling at Ava every time. They shared these small glances until Theo had rolled enough small cigarettes to go around the room. She held up one that was a little bigger than the rest, “Want to share?” 

Ava nodded and Theo reached over and pulled Ava’s chair over with one arm. Theo brought the cigarettes to her lips and brought out a striker and lit the cigarette. There was a moment where she struggled to get it lit but finally, the cigarette caught fire and she was able to take a large puff, exhaling with a small cough. Theo gave it to Ava and she followed Theo’s lead. Having already smoked something before, Ava was ready for it this time around. She took a small hit and exhaled. The atmosphere around them had quieted down, as each of the women were busy sharing the cigarettes. 

Xyra and Navi were sitting quite close together on Theo’s bed, talking between themselves. Ava observed them, curious as to what their relationship was. They were by far the most secretive and reserved of the group in that room and Ava hadn’t gotten to know them as well she had gotten to know the others. Were they together or were they just friends? Ever since she was introduced to the concept of noxes and that it was normalized outside of the strict Baethean class system she had begun to question a lot of interactions. This one was clear though, Ava was picking up some romantic vibes between them. 

She and Theo passed the Ravci cigarette between them and smoked in relative silence. Once everyone had a pleasant buzz going on, Ava included, Oceane piped up from her spot on the bed. 

“So, how ready is The Captain for Niveal?” Oceane teased and Theo rolled her eyes. 

Ava laughed a tiny bit and looked over at Theo for a response. Theo said nothing, instead she took a hit from the Ravci and sat back in her chair. 

“I’ve heard a lot about The Captain. What is that all about?” Ava asked. 

Xyra perked up from her spot on the bed, her black hair was not in its usual slicked back style so some of it fell in her face, “I’ll go! I’ll go!” 

The room collectively laughed at a loose and laid back Xyra, a fun but rare sight. Xyra was always ready to share any embarrassing or funny stories about Theo and Theo dreaded the onslaught of anecdotes. 

“Right so when Theo and Niveal meet, a monster arises. A greedy, money spending, horny, drunk monster called The Captain,” Xyra said dramatically. 

“Oi! Do not paint me as a villain,” Theo interjected. 

“You’re right. That’s doing a disservice to The Captain. I think she is quite fun. Always a memorable time when we go out together in Niveal,” Iona defended Theo. 

“Exactly, I am a pleasure to be around,” Theo laughed. 

“I’m still no closer to understanding this alter ego of yours,” Ava said and turned her attention back to Theo. 

“It is not an alter ego,” Theo pointed out, “Niveal is just a fun place and I like to spend the money I have worked hard to earn. The reason people call me The Captain is because of idiots like this group that keeps it going.” 

Theo passed Ava the Ravci which Ava took gratefully.

“Aye, you like to spend it on drugs, drinking, gambling, expensive stolen goods, and women,” Oceane snickered before taking a hit from her cigarette. 

“Clarification for the audience, I spend money on women in the sense that I buy them things and give them money. I do not pay women for sex,” Theo once again interjected. 

Ava felt an unfamiliar pang in her stomach at the mention of Theo being with other women, multiple other women, but she decided to brush it off. 

“I never understood your aversion to paying for sex. We go to brothels under our protection. We know the women are paid and treated well,” Oceane said. The inner-circle had had this theological discussion many times. It was a hot topic of conversation.

Ava, new to the scene came in with her own questions, “You guys use brothels? I thought you’d be opposed.” 

“Sometimes, aye,” Oceane said and Iona nodded. 

“Most of the ship does. Only two I know for sure that don’t do it are them,” Navi pointed to Theo and Cooker. 

“This conversation always goes and circles and never gets solved. I am not judging you for doing what you are doing but I don’t feel comfortable with partaking in a business I am trying to abolish,” Cooker began, ready to jump into the debate. 

Navi and Xyra groaned from their corner of the bed and Navi used her feet to push Cooker. Cooker laughed and swatted her feet away, quickly distracted from the previous conversation. 

“I am supposed to be shopping. When does that happen?” Ava looked over to Theo, who she felt was best equipped to answer the question. 

“Usually on the third sun. We go on a two-sun bender and then go shopping. Then we usually go on another bender at night and then be miserable the whole next sun and then do pirate stuff,” Theo explained. 

“To doing pirate stuff,” Iona laughed and raised her cigarette, everyone else followed and repeated what she had said. 

“You’re coming shopping with us?” Xyra asked. 

“Aye, Morgana is sending me on her behalf,” Ava explained, “I hope that is okay.” 

“Oh aye that’s perfectly fine with me. More people to help keep me sane from Theo’s insufferable presence while shopping,” Xyra moaned and most of the women nodded their heads in agreeance. 

“Aye, that is why we steer clear of the shops on Theo’s shopping time. We usually go when the all-important leaders are doing their pirate stuff,” Oceane provided helpfully, “You can just come with us when you go if you’d prefer.” 

“Absolutely not!” Xyra protested, “That will not be happening it was already agreed upon that Ava is coming with us.” 

Ava knew that her presence was wanted only because of the promise it brang of having help to handle Theo, whatever that meant, but she still felt welcome. Xyra had actually wanted her to come and help, granted she was drunk and desperate but Ava was counting it. 

The conversation kept leaning towards berating Theo. They never provided enough details, just vague jabs at how different Theo was once they docked in Niveal. Ava was expecting it to either be a disappointing reveal or something she had never been expecting. Finally, once the cigarettes were all smoked and the air was cloudy the topics of conversation began to derail into inappropriate ones of sex and drugs. 

They had broken out a bottle of rum and what seemed like Theo’s fancy glasses. Cooker had introduced a drinking game, claiming it to be from Elox. Oceane called bullshit and swore it originated in Efriti. Quibble aside, the drinking game was called Aye, Aye, Captain! It started with the Captain who would say a statement. All those that had done whatever was said would salute and say “Aye, Aye, Captain!” all those that hadn’t would have to drink. 

Ava learned a lot about the girls, specifically, that pirate life really did equate to a life of stealing, sex, and booze. Most of the women in the room had wild stories while Ava’s most salacious tale was that she made out with the son of a councilman when he was engaged to some other girl. That was her fourth and last kiss and probably the best of the four. The fact that Ava had only had four kisses and she was 16 lengths old had come out during the game and Ava was beet red for a long time after that. 

Ava learned a lot about each of the girls but also a lot about Theo. Theo could not count the number of partners she has had, she had tried almost every drug in Baethos, and she also had spent over 500 gold on a pair of shoes before, diamond-encrusted boots. Ava commented on the irony that she was the one called a rich girl and it earned her a round of laughs. As the night dragged on, she became drunker and drunker. Theo had also begun to roll more Ravci cigarettes and the room had begun to get smoky again. Ava was in a cloud of stupor, laughing at every word said and letting her chair swallow her whole. 

Slowly, the night began to come to a close. One by one the girls excused themselves until there were only four. Navi and Xyra, who had both been practically giggling at each other all night, made their exit as well. Navi left first and Xyra left shortly after, it was apparent though that they would end up in the same bed that night. Ava wanted to ask about it but did not know if it was her place. Her inebriated mind decided that it was best just to ask and get the question out of her head. 

“Are they a couple?” Ava asked, her chair still close to Theo’s. 

“Xyra and Navi? No, they aren’t. They used to be. Now they just fuck. It’s complicated,” Theo put bluntly. 

“Wait, they used to go out together and then they broke up but you slept with Navi?” Ava clarified. 

“I forgot you knew about that,” Theo groaned, “aye, I did and it was not my proudest moment. I got shit from Xyra for it.” 

“Seems like you haven’t been making the best choices as of late,” Ava poked fun and Theo laughed. 

“Very funny,” Theo began to roll the last of the Ravci into a cigarette, “How are you, by the way? Was it my bad choices that has driven you away these past nights?” 

Ava was now put on the spot. She was going to answer as close to the truth as she could, “It wasn’t actually. It has just been an overwhelming cycle and I needed this time to sort my head out. Plus, carpentry is hard work. I was tired after those long suns” 

“I hear you are awful at it,” Theo laughed and lit up the cigarette. 

“I am the worst! Can you believe they kept me on for another three suns?” Ava laughed too and held her hand out for a puff. 

Theo passed the lit cigarette to Ava and watched as the redhead took the longest drag yet, “I can believe it. Evana reported that you have a knack for problem-solving. She says you’ve been helping the girls?” 

“Oh, aye, I am a great asset to this ship. I'm glad people are starting to realize,” Ava boasted. 

“I am glad too,” Theo played along. 

Once the cigarette was finished between the two of them, Ava got up and said her goodbyes. Theo stopped her before she could leave, “I forgot to ask but would you want to come with us tomorrow? We all do kind of like a tavern crawl and then go gambling. It is quite fun.”

Ava smiled at the invitation. She had already agreed to go with them when Oceane and Iona asked her to go a few nights before when they were all hanging out in the lower deck but Theo didn’t need to know that. Ava smiled at the captain, “I would love to. Thank you.”


	18. Niveal Begins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AGAIN HELLO!!! I SAID THIS AT THE BEGINNING BUT I JUST WANT TO REMIND Y'ALL THAT AGE IS DIFFERENT IN THE STORY THAN IN EARTH YEARS. SINCE THEIR YEARS ARE 500 DAYS, THAT MEANS THEY ARE OLDER THAN THE NUMMBERS IN THE BOOK. 16=22, 13=18 ETC. THE FORMULA IS 500*AGE/365

Theo woke up at the crack of dawn, the fourth hour of the morning to be exact, to make sure they were all set to dock. In Niveal, all new arrivals had to have their captain wait in the office of the port manager until they were called in, interviewed, and then given the green light to disembark. That meant that Theo had to wake up and get dragged through the excessive process. Two hours it took to get interviewed and approved. The makeshift Nivealean government had a rigorous interrogation process that served to sniff out those that were government spies or instigators coming in with a militia. 

Theo was well known, especially around Niveal, but that didn’t mean the process was any easier. All it took for some pirates to turn into spies or armed terrorists was the right sum of money. Theo was not that kind of captain though and it was proven through the course of the interrogation. Once they finally got back to the ship, Theo went back to sleep and woke up at a reasonable time. The sun was high up in the air and the noise from the port provided a faint buzz in the otherwise quiet room. She got up and began getting ready for their first day in Niveal, excitement was brewing in Theo’s stomach. 

She threw on a coat over her loose shirt, put on some pants, and once out on the deck she found one of the crewmates that worked under Pearl’s boatswain command. Theo ordered for a bath to be drawn in her quarters and the woman hastily made her way inside the deck to get started on it. Theo went into the infirmary just to find that part of the room. 

“Oi, oi my lovelies,” She walked into Tuni’s room without knocking, “I have come to get some opinions on what I should wear.” 

Morgana was sitting up in bed by herself, no pillows needed for support. Tuni sitting at the vanity Evana had built her. She turned around in a huff, “Theo, why do you not knock?” 

“This is my ship. I don’t know if you’ve heard but I was recently named Captain of the Scorned Woman. How exciting. Tuni, I need your help,” Theo pouted out her lip. 

“Aye, child, I’ll go help you. But, you do know I think you are amazing and handsome without any of the clothes and the jewels,” Tuni walked over and placed a warm hand on Theo’s cheek. 

“I know.” 

“Am I handsome too?” Morgana asked from her corner, feigning jealousy. 

“The handsomest,” Tuni walked over to her partner and planted a soft kiss on Morgana’s forehead, then cheek, then lips. Once Morgana was satisfied with her attention, Tuni walked out with Theo on a mission to help pick out the best outfit to kick off their Nivealan bender.

It was a bit of an unspoken agreement between all of the crew when they would come to the island, let Theo let loose. It was the only time where she could truly, without any repercussions, have fun. On Corinspe, the pirate island, Theo was an important member of that community. While all her crew let loose, she was usually expected to be on her best behavior. Her status as captain and the reputation the crew had garnered over the lengths meant that as their representative, she had to be sober and stoic. On Niveal though, there were no expectations. 

When they made their way inside the captain’s quarters two women were filling up a metal tub that had been moved into the room. The water was warm and Theo couldn’t wait to get in. Once the women left, she checked that the temperature was okay, undressed, and got into the bath. Tuni paid a naked Theo no mind as she searched the wardrobe for some options. Theo sank into the metal tub, plunging her head into the warm water and staying there for a bit. Once she emerged, Tuni had picked out a few items of clothing. 

“What color are you thinking of for your coat? Something black?” Tuni asked, looking over at Theo. 

“Too predictable, don’t you reckon?” Theo asked, hands moving back and forth in the water, playing with it. “Have I got anything that’s a dark red?”

‘Aye,” Tuni pulled out a deep red coat with gold buttons lining it. It was simple, elegant, intimidating and Theo flashed a thumbs up. Tuni began to piece the rest of the outfit together and Theo enjoyed her bath. 

“Come out with us tonight, Fortune,” Theo watched the healer scurry about the room. Tuni always had a great time in Niveal, like the rest of them. 

“Morgana needs me, Theo. I can’t just leave her,” Tuni stated, stopping to address Theo directly. 

“She asked me to try and get you to go with us. You know some girls don’t get off at all, they’ll be more than happy to tend to Mor. She’s been good and getting better every day. Please come with us. Even Ava’s coming with us tonight. Come on,” Theo pleaded, “You love Ava! You also love me, do it for us.” 

“I will go, but I will have to have something in return,” Tuni smirked. 

“Anything.”

“I want to wear one of your coats.” 

Theo’s mouth gaped, “No! Oi, not fair. Plus they would get dirty, you’re too short and they would drag.” 

“I would be cautious as to continue with jokes about my height because two can play that game,” Tuni threatened and Theo backed off, she couldn’t take a hit to her ego about height. Not on a day where she needed to be her cockiest. 

“Fair enough. Pick something but you have to return it,” Theo warned and got out of the bath. Tuni looked away quickly and Theo laughed at the aversion. 

She walked to her bed where there was a towel laid out and she dried herself off then began to get dressed with what Tuni had laid out. Theo heard Tuni shuffling through the coats in the wardrobe and she walked over for approval once she found it. Theo approved the fancy yellow coat full of embellishments Tuni was holding. It was a coat that had been too small for Theo for quite some time. They said their goodbyes and Theo had Tuni promise they would meet each other outside shortly, ensuring that Tuni would not bail on a night of fun. 

Theo brushed out her hair and patted some perfume on herself. She slipped on her favorite rings and made sure the many accessories in her ears matched the color of her coat. Finally, she got dressed, comfortable boots, pants that looked nice but also stretched a bit so she could feast, a loose shirt with no undershirt underneath, and her elegant red coat. She placed her hat on her head and walked out, making a beeline to the storage room. 

“Miss Yurwa, my favorite Islander, I am here to collect,” Theo alerted and Miss Yurwa pulled out a key from her pocket and led Theo over to a room hidden away behind boxes. She unlocked it and Theo walked in. 

“How much are you taking? I need it for your books,” Miss Yurwa asked. 

“600 gold pieces,” Theo said as she took six small, heavy bags and pulled them out of the room. 

Miss Yurwa fixed her with a disapproving stare. 

“Not for just today. I’m spreading it out over the days we are here!” Theo reasoned. 

Miss Yurwa did not waver. 

“Plus, 100 of it isn’t for me. It’s for someone else,” Theo tried again. 

“If you keep giving your money away then you won’t have any left for retirement,” Miss Yurwa warned. 

Theo laughed, “It is amusing you think I’m making it into retirement.”

Miss Yurwa clicked her tongue and swatted Theo’s arm, she hated it when Theo joked like that. She shooed the captain away as she updated her books that balanced Theo’s small fortune. Theo made sure the bags were secure in her arms before scurrying back to her room, making sure nothing fell. She hid four of the bags in her desk and held two in her hands as she finally walked back out to the deck to find most of her group out there and waiting. 

After a glance, she realized the only people they were missing were Xyra and Navi. Typical. When they fell back into their Xyra-Navi routine they were always late to everything. Oceane, Pearl, Iona, Cooker, and Tuni were standing around in a group. Theo also saw Ava amongst the small gathering of women with a new outfit on her. She was wearing loose flowing black pants and some sandals that strapped around her ankles. Her shirt was black, tight to her body, and sleeveless. It was an odd cut for a shirt but it looked nice on her. They greeted each other and Theo commented on the new outfit. 

“Oceane lent it to me,” Ava smiled and looked down at it, “She was very excited to style me.” 

Theo chuckled and nodded, “Her enthusiasm paid off, Red. You look nice.” 

Ava blushed a bit but looked away, hiding it. Xyra and Navi finally emerged onto the deck, Xyra’s hair once again out of it’s slicked back usual style. Theo clapped and then found a box to stand on, pulling it towards the group. 

“Listen up!” Theo called and pulled Ava onto the box, the redhead stumbling onto it, “It is Ava’s first time at Niveal.” 

Theo paused and the seven women around her erupted into cheers. 

“You know the drill then. When we have a Niveal newcomer, we all pool our money together for a first timer’s fund,” Theo explained loudly to the women but the words were meant for Ava’s clarification, “So women, surrender your coins!” 

Theo laid down one of the bags of coins she had brought with her and opened it, inviting the other women to drop money inside. One by one the women opened their purses without complaint and began to drop in gold coins. Each woman contributed 30 gold coins on top of the 100 Theo put in. Ava was dumbfounded, her mouth dropped lower for every coin that was dropped in. 

“So here, Ava this is your Niveal fun fund. The only rule is you must use at least two-thirds of it on Niveal,” Theo further explained, picking up the heavy bag and handing it to Ava. 

“I can’t accept this. It’s too much,” She said, uneasy with the large sum of money she had come into. 

Her protests were met with several boos from the group of women. When she tried to speak up again, another round of boos erupted and she couldn’t help but laugh. She was being forced into taking the money. Ava held her hand up this time, quieting them to make sure she could speak. 

“I’m going to put some of this in my room for safekeeping, it’s too heavy,” she said and everyone broke out into cheers. They were jesters, all of them. Ava ran up to her room and began to count out the coins. There was so much money she was still in shock, she had no idea what to do with this much. She had borrowed ten gold from Skins earlier in the day with a promise to pay her back with the first ten gold she made aboard the ship. That promise was kept and she set aside her previous ten gold she had borrowed and an additional 3 gold as a thank you to Skins. 

She had 310 total gold coins and she wanted to spend at least 100 on different items at the shops so she rationed only a small portion of her money for her first-ever two-day bender, 60 coins. She did not know what to expect but she was excited. Buzzing. Every inch of her body was tingling and the coin purse felt heavy at her side. She rejoined the other pirates and suddenly they were off, approaching the bustling port. Theo took the lead and they naturally took a certain formation. Ava and Tuni were behind Theo, behind them Iona, Pearl, and Oceane. Then Navi and Xyra with Cooker taking the lead. Ava was impressed by how they had taken on a 1-2-3-2-1 formation without even communicating it. It served a purpose, Ava figured but she didn't know what. She would have to ask later. 

As they disembarked, Ava took in her surroundings. Niveal was unlike anything she had ever seen before. The bright aftermorning sun shone into the port and glinted off of any shiny surface it encountered. There were a lot of people crowding the streets of the port. There were buildings in the distance but for several hundred feet in front of them, in every direction, were vendors. Theo rushed them past the flurry of vendors, with their colorful tents and large fruits. Ava wanted to stop by at each one but she knew exploring Niveal would have to be done on her own time. They made it past the crowd of the port and into the city streets. Most buildings there rose four stories tall and were a dark blue, the color of the most abundant building mineral found on the island. Awnings of different colors sprung out from the buildings providing shade on that sunny aftermorning. 

After not too long of walking, Theo stopped them and turned around to the group, “Shall we start with the Grogon's Lounge?” 

“Aye, Aye, Captain!” Oceane cupped her hands over her mouth and whooped. 

With clear instructions, Theo turned around and began leading the way to their destination. Ava looked over at Tuni and nudged her with her arm. 

“I’m happy you came out with us. It’s my first time! I’m glad to have you here.” Ava told her friend. 

Tuni smiled, “That makes me so happy to hear, darling. I mostly came because you were coming. Theo used you as a bargaining chip.”

“Ah, my plan to become a useful asset to this crew has worked. I am now a bargaining chip. Do you think that’ll get me voted in?” Ava messed around. 

Tuni laughed, “Aye, you’ll be guaranteed to get the votes.” 

They walked in silence for another few minutes until Theo opened the door for everyone, “Here we are! I accept tips for the tour. Thank you, ladies and gentlepeople.”


	19. Bender pt. 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just wanna put a content warning here: there will be drug consumption and mentions of a 'slur'. (it's in a Baethan language). also violence as usual

They all made their way inside and immediately Ava was hit with a dense cloud of smoke and heavy sweet-smelling air. It didn’t look like any bar Ava had frequented on her travels. Instead of tables and chairs, there were long couches and sitting pillows strewn across the floor. There were vases with pipes coming out of them and people smoking from them. Others had small cigarettes filled with a mystery herb. Some even had long wooden pipes like the one Theo had the time they had Dragon’s Breath. It wasn’t a regular bar, Ava had figured that much. It seemed to be a place not for spirits but drugs. 

Once everyone was inside Theo walked in and pulled out a handful of coins from her side and placed it in front of one of the workers, “We’ll take the room in the back. We’ll start with a sample tray.” 

“I’m sorry,” the man said, “that area is off-limits.” 

Theo simply laughed and made her way forward, heading towards the off-limits back room. 

The worker stepped forward to stop her but Xyra stepped in the way, “Mate, you don’t want to do that. That’s Captain Theo. Best take the money and go let Grogon know she’s here.” 

The man paled and grabbed the money without another moment of hesitation and muttered his apologies. Ava watched as the man comically rushed away, presumably to find Grogon. The way that at the drop of a name, the whole context changed was almost comical. It looked like Theo had a strong influence here, and other places too, Ava concluded. It gave her a rush to know she was around such powerful people. Ava wanted to know about Theo, what had she done to command the respect she did? She was not well versed in pirate lore or the current politics of the illegal underworld as it was not a subject readily taught by her tutors. She would have to ask Cooker if there was anything on that topic. 

The group made their way into the private room in the back and Ava looked around to scope out the best spot. The room was dimly lit, just enough to see. There were two couches, tables scattered about, and many pillows large enough to sit on spread out across the floor. Ava managed to find a place on a couch wedged between Theo and Xyra. The couch was crowded enough that she and Xyra were touching, it was the closest she had been to the intimidating first mate. Xyra looked over at Ava staring and flashed her a confused smile, which Ava reciprocated. 

The same boy from earlier that had taken Theo’s money opened the door with a large tray in hand and set it on the low table in front of them. Ava listened as he pointed to each different thing on the tray and explained briefly what it was. Theo looked uninterested, sparking up a conversation with Oceane who was on a pillow next to her. Ava was a little bit worried at the sight, wouldn’t Theo need to know what was on the table if she wanted to take it? Xyra, on her right, nudged her. 

“You okay?” she asked. 

Ava was a bit surprised at the gesture, Xyra hadn’t shown too much of an interest in her at all, “Aye, I’m okay. Why do you ask?” 

“You’ve got a face,” Xyra pointed out with a small laugh, “Is it the place? If it’s too much for you one of us will be happy to step out with you.” 

Whatever face Ava was making had certainly gone away and it was replaced with a grin. Xyra was being… nice? Not mean, not standoffish, not neutral or civil, she was being nice. 

“I’m okay,” Ava reassured Xyra, “Just concerned that no one seems to be paying attention to his explanation of how everything works. How are we going to know what to do?” 

This time, Xyra let out a louder laugh, “We’ve been doing this since we were ten. We know a thing or two about Grogon’s.”

“You did drugs when you were ten?” Ava asked, bewildered. 

“That is beside the point. Listen up, I’ll give you a quick rundown,” Xyra leaned forward and pulled the tray away from the man and over to their side of the table. The man hesitated in his explanation then continued, but Xyra ignored him and began an explanation of her own, “This is a sampler, it is eight gold.”

“Eight gold?” Ava’s eyes went wide. 

“Aye, it’s high-quality stuff. The sampler comes with four rows of five substances each. Each one has their name on a card under them so if you like it you can ask for more,” Xyra pointed to each row as she explained, “Starting from the bottom are things you smoke, then things you snort or swallow, then things you eat, then things you apply.” 

Ava examined each row and sure enough, each of the drugs lined up matched somewhat with their row. The first row had mainly herbs and grass, the second looked like tablets and powders, the third was an array of edible materials, and the last one was ointment in small jars. Sure enough, they were organized by method of consumption. 

“On each row, it goes left to right by potency. The ones on the left are less potent, beginner drugs and as you progress to the right they get stronger. You, though, are strictly limited to the first two in each row because anything else and you’ll need a babysitter all night. You can mix a drug with the row above or below it but not any other row, got it?” Xyra asked after dumping the load of information on Ava. 

Ava nodded her head slowly to show she had comprehended, the smoke in the air must have already affected her because Xyra’s words were taking a while to sink in. Limited to the first two, only mix with the row above or below. 

At that moment, a short, robust man walked through the door. He had a long and full beard and when he walked in, Theo stood up to greet him. 

“Grogon, it has been too long since I have seen your wonderful face,” Theo walked over and hugged the man, bending down to reach him. 

Grogon laughed and patted Theo on the back, “I had to come by and see my favorite customer. Am I your first stop on the bender?” 

“First and last,” Theo grinned, “had to show a new pirate how it’s done.” 

Xyra leaned into Ava and whispered, “It is tradition to finish our second night where we started. First and last.” 

Ava nodded, understanding the exchange between the Captain and Grogon after Xyra helped. Theo, Morgana, and Cooker were usually the ones to answer her questions. With one of them absent and the other two too engaged with other things, Xyra took up the role of the guide. It was sweet of her and a nice change. While Theo finished up her conversation with the short man, Xyra reached forward and picked the first thing from the first row, smokable and for beginners. She then tapped Iona who was next and asked to be handed something.

Iona passed Xyra a box and when opened it revealed a large array of different paraphernalia. She reached in and picked out a pipe and put some of the stringy grass inside the pipe.

“Here,” Xyra handed Ava the pipe, “this should be good to start with. Relax and ride it and when you are ready for something else let me know.”

Along with the pipe, Ava was handed a piece of twine. Xyra instructed Ava to light it using the candle on the table and then shake it to put it out, then she turned away. Ava tried her best to get all the steps correct. Light the twine, put the pipe to her mouth, light the grass, maneuver the pipe, inhale, then exhale. She managed to mess up somewhere along the process and the amount of smoke she let out was laughable. 

This time it was Oceane who stepped in to help. She crawled over to Ava from her pillow on the floor and helped her position the pipe correctly. Oceane lit the pipe and Ava inhaled, this time taking a large amount of smoke in. She exhaled everything in her lungs, falling into a coughing fit at the end of her exhale. Her lungs felt like they had pins inside them and she wondered if she would ever be able to breathe again. Slowly, her lungs opened up and she was able to recover.

When she finally wiped her eyes and looked around the room, her coughing had attracted the attention of Iona, Navi, and Xyra. If her face wasn’t red from the coughing it would have been from embarrassment. They all looked at her concerned, awaiting some sort of response. She gave them a thumbs up and at a sign of life, they went back to their own things.

Theo had come back from her conversation with the owner and sat next to Ava. She pulled the sampler tray over and looked around. She turned to Oceane who had returned to her pillow, “Should I go big now and ease it up later or ramp it up later and take it easy?” 

Oceane grinned, “Go big now and keep ramping it up.” 

Theo laughed and grabbed a small compact pill that was sitting in the third row, ingestibles. It was the fourth one, Ava had noted when she watched Theo grab it. According to Xyra, that was intense. Ava watched as Theo took the pill and reached Oceane for a high five. Theo then reached for the first ointment and sat back, shoulder to shoulder with Ava. 

“You want some?” Theo asked as she began to spread the ointment on her wrists. 

Ava held up her pipe, “Can’t mix.” 

“Aye, you’re a fast learner. How is that havcera treating you?” Theo asked.

“Could use a little more if I’m honest,” Ava said as she leaned forward and relit the pipe. This time, she was able to get a sizable inhale and managed to even keep the coughing to a minimum, “How are you feeling?” 

“The best, mate. This works pretty fast,” Theo lifted the ointment. 

Ava nodded and watched as Theo closed her eyes and began to touch the couch under her. Looking around the room to the others, everyone seemed pretty content and relaxed. Tuni was the only one in the room that had not used anything on the tray. She still looked entertained though, sparking up a conversation with Theo whose eyes were still closed. Ava finished off the grass in her pipe and placed it on the table letting herself ride the high. 

This feeling was different from the other things she had smoked. It was mild but she had a sudden urge to laugh. She pushed down that need and opted to display a wide grin instead, unable to control it. Looking around the dim room she caught Iona’s eye and burst out into laughter. Iona joined her and Ava found herself with tears of laughter in her eyes over nothing. Everyone in the room seemed to be on the same wavelength and soon enough everyone in the room was laughing. 

There was an air of fun and lightheartedness in the room for the rest of their time there. Ava had smoked some more of the havcera but opted to not take or do anything else. It was a few hours before Theo got up and announced that it was their time to leave. She pocketed a few ointments and edible substances and walked out and led the way outside. 

When they walked out, the sun beamed on them. It was a shock to Ava who brought up her hands to cover her eyes. Ava’s eyes took a minute to adjust to the attack of the sun, the lack of windows and the dim lighting inside Gorgon's made her forget that it was light out. With the reminder that it was aftermorning came the realization that she was already sleepy and they were not even a few hours into a two-sun excursion. Would they stop and rest? Would they ever eat? Would they sleep? 

She kept up with the group which was not a hard task given that they were all pretty messed up so they walked slowly and carefully. It wasn’t long before they had arrived at the next place, the new bar being just down the street. Upon walking in Ava noticed it was more like the traditional taverns she had been in. There were no surprises with this bar, they just drank and drank and drank. Tuni and Ava seemed to be the only ones that had only a few drinks. 

Most of the time they were at the second location Theo had been socializing with everyone. Xyra and Navi kept to themselves, as did Tuni and Ava but the others were roaming around and catching up with old acquaintances. They were at the tavern for only an hour before moving onto the next place. The next bar was much more open. There was a small place to dance and there was live music being played. Ava spoke with a few people outside of the group and she danced with a few strangers as well. 

After a bit, they were on to the next place and, much to Ava’s relief, this time they entered into a place serving food. They were led to yet another private room, this one had one long table and Ava found a place in between Navi and Tuni and across from Oceane. Them being high and drunk out of their minds proved to be entertainment for Tuni and Ava. Ava began to pry to get some previous Niveal stories out of the group and Oceane wasted no time in delving into the tales of their times here. Oceane, who was levelheaded and helpful most of the time, proved through her stories to be time and again the troublemaker of the group; the instigator. Ava had witnessed it at Grogon’s, the way Oceane had egged Theo to go wild for the night.

Ava was so lost in the comedic tales of the crew that before she knew it they were eating. Theo had ordered what seemed like 50 gold worth of food. Ava had not seen that much food in close to a length, the last time being on her 16th commencement anniversary. She tried a bit of everything on the table: meats, loaves of bread, vegetables. She was determined to push her limits and eat three whole plates of food but by the time she was halfway done with the third one she had to stop. Her stomach felt as if there was a baby inside of it and she wanted to fall asleep right at the table. Admittedly, Ava did not pay attention to anything that happened after she finished her meal, mind wandering off into a blissful full haze. 

It took her longer than it should have to realize everyone was getting up and leaving. It wasn’t until Xyra called her name that she realized almost everyone had left the room. She rushed to her feet and left the room through the door Xyra was holding open. This time when they left the establishment the sun was beginning to set and the sun was no longer shining brightly in their faces. The group, now more sober than before, had walked into the restaurant, quickly made their way to their next destination. 

The new place was crowded and when Theo walked in the place quieted a little before everyone shouted their greetings out at her. Theo laughed and shook hands with a few people as she made her way into the establishment. It didn’t slip past Ava the number of times Theo had been recognized simply by walking into a room. She recalled the night before she asked for passage aboard the ship, how Marcy had looked shocked that she hadn’t heard of Theo and the Scorned Woman. It made sense now, the shock. It seemed as if Theo was a legend and so was the ship. Ava saw that Cooker had managed to snag a small table and she took advantage and found herself a seat. She was going to sit back and observe, much like she had been doing that whole night. 

Ava and Cooker got into a small discussion about their sun so far and how Ava was enjoying herself. It was fun, she did have to admit, but it was also a bit odd. She knew no one and knew nothing. She didn’t express that part to Cooker though, just gave her a positive review of her time and the promise that she would get back to drinking soon. Cooker got up from their table and she was replaced by Theo. 

“Red,” Theo said, “I feel like I haven’t seen you at all this whole time!” 

“You’ve been too busy staring at the bottom of a mug of ale,” Ava commented. 

Theo let out a loud laugh, “Your wit never fails to surprise me. Have you been drinking? Would you like me to get you something?”

Ava smiled at the sweet gesture and nodded, “I’ll have a drink but I can go up and get it myself.” 

“That’s no fun,” Theo smiled and stood up, “come on, let me go show off.” 

Theo held out her hand for Ava and Ava took it. Theo led her over to the crowded bar and found a space for both of them. She waited until the barkeep turned around then she put her hand in her mouth and whistled loudly. Theo held up two fingers and the man nodded and turned around. Soon enough two glasses were being placed in front of them. They had managed to skip over the many people waiting without Theo even having to say a word. This action didn’t go unnoticed and one of the patrons at the bar began to kick up a fuss. 

“Why does this bitch over here get a free pass?” the man complained to the barkeep, anger etched on his features. 

Theo laughed a little, unfazed by the comment. “Excuse me? Would you like to repeat yourself?” 

“I would, yeah,” the man stepped up close to Theo and Theo turned her attention to the man. They were face to face and Theo’s hand was closed in a tight fist, “I asked why you, a bitch, gets a drink before me when I’ve been waiting all night?” 

Before Theo could make a move or react, Xyra had stepped in between both of them. “Theo, go back to the table. It’s not worth the fight.” 

Theo nodded and took a step back from the situation. She turned her attention towards the barkeep, “Kick him out or we’ll take our gold elsewhere, now and every other time we come into Niveal.” 

The barkeep nodded and as Theo led them both away from the bar, Ava could hear the barkeep kicking the man out of the bar. The threat of taking their patronage elsewhere was enough to get the man kicked out. Theo had that kind of influence around these parts, it seemed like at the snap of her fingers she could get almost anyone to do anything. If she was crossed, there were immediate consequences. It was a new side to Theo that Ava was seeing and Ava could not help but feel butterflies in her stomach while thinking about it. What was wrong with her? 

They sat back down at the table and Theo handed Ava her drink, “I’m sorry about all that. You’d think men would have learned some respect in the last 800 lengths but they have not. Shame.” 

Ava laughed at that and took a sip of her drink. She expected the bitter and putrid taste that came along with liquor this dark but instead it was sweeter than any juice she had ever had before. She raised her eyebrows in surprise and Theo laughed at her. Ava finished the small shot amount that was in her glass and looked up to see a wide-eyed Theo. 

“I usually finish mine throughout a half-hour,” Theo said. 

“Why didn’t you say anything?” 

“You finished it so fast I had no time to stop you.”

Ava paled and looked in her empty glass, “What’s going to happen to me?” 

Theo laughed, “Nothing. You’ll just get hammered very quickly. That little bit is as potent as six ales. It’ll pass in a few hours but I recommend you don’t drink anymore.” 

Ava nodded and swore she already felt the room spin a little. Maybe it was her mind playing tricks on her. Like in the other places, a live band began to play an upbeat tune. It was unfamiliar to Ava but the Tavern all began to stomp and clap in sync with the music. 

“Do you know this song?” Theo asked over the noise. 

“No!” 

Theo’s mouth dropped open, “That means you don’t know the dance?” 

“Correct!” Ava laughed and then let out an embarrassing squeak as Theo pulled her to her feet. 

“I’m going to teach you right now!” Theo exclaimed as she dragged Ava to the makeshift dance floor the others in the tavern had made. 

It was not too complicated of a dance but the full strength of whatever she had drunk earlier began to hit and it made it hard to follow any simple pattern. Her and Theo ended up laughing and fumbling the steps for the entire duration of the song. Ava knew that with everything Theo had taken and drunk there was no way she would have learned the dance anyway. Both of them were too far gone. It was fun though and by the time they sat back down Ava was sweaty and still found herself grinning like an idiot for a while after they had sat down. 

She didn’t drink anymore because she didn’t need to. Sure enough, the strong liquor she had taken before had led to her being intoxicated the whole time they were at that tavern. She had joined more dances, even doing a dance she knew from Elox on top of a table. Cooker had introduced her to a few of her friends and Ava spent a while talking to them. She could not remember their names or what they had talked about but Ava had enjoyed her time with them. They had partied in that particular tavern for quite sometime before the group had decided it was time to move on. There were still plenty of other places to go to before the night ended. Ava had heard them speaking about the rest of the night as if there was an end to it, a break. Ava could not wait. She was looking forward to a bed and sleep. It was hard to keep up with these pirates. 

Ava was the last one out of the door and as she exited she saw Theo being tackled by someone. The man was not strong enough to knock Theo off her feet, she only stumbled backward but he threw a punch that managed to land. Her head was knocked back and she brought her hand up to her mouth to feel blood. Theo’s face was filled with an anger Ava had never seen before. Theo regained balance on her feet and connected her own punch with the man’s face. Ava was able to get a good look at him, it was the man that had been ejected from the bar. She was frozen in place, too drunk to be able to react. It wasn’t like she could have been much help in her state. She was stuck watching as her soon to be captain defended herself. 

The man spit on the ground next to Theo, “Dokkil.”

Theo without another moment of hesitation, brought her leg out to kick him in the chest. The man stumbled back and Theo pushed her leg out again this time aiming for his knee. When her leg connected with it he fell to the ground. She hovered over him, grabbed his shirt, and began to punch him with her other hand. Punch after punch landed and Theo showed no sign of letting up. After standing back for what they deemed an appropriate amount of time, Cooker and Xyra made their way towards Theo. They pulled Theo off the bloodied man and Cooker began to say something to Theo that Ava could not understand. They were not speaking the common tongue. It calmed Theo down and she pulled her arms away from her crewmates, not needing to be restrained anymore. 

Oceane and Iona picked the man up and held him in place. His face was bloodied and Theo’s rings added to the damage her punches had made. Theo drew her dagger out and held it tightly in her hands. Ava stood still, wondering if she was going to kill this man in the middle of the street. Ava did not understand what the man said to Theo but it seemed bad. A punch and a slur? Ava was sure Theo had killed over less. 

Theo got close to the man and pressed the dagger up against his crotch, “I was going to castrate you for this but I’m feeling forgiving tonight. What is your name, sir?” 

“Lional,” he said, nervously. The tough exterior from earlier having faded away. 

“Full name,” Theo demanded. 

“Lional Butep.” 

“Ladies, let him go,” Theo said and put her dagger away. 

Oceane and Iona reluctantly let him go and the man stood in place, frozen. 

“What are you going to do to me?” he asked. 

“Nothing, you’re free to go,” Theo smiled at him and backed away, “Have a good evening, Lional Butep.” 

She nodded her head in the direction of their next stop and began to walk, everyone followed. Ava was sure that she was about to see the man gutted, what had Cooker told Theo to get her to stop?. The group walked quietly, no one even dared to breathe loudly. Theo spoke again, in the same language as before. From her tone, it seemed like she was giving instructions to Xyra, who was next to her. Xyra responded in the same tongue and after her response, the mood seemed to lighten. Ava couldn’t understand the words but she had deduced what was going on based on the tone and the sentiment behind the words. Xyra had been given instructions on how to deal with the attacker, probably something to do with getting his full name. 

They arrived at the next location soon enough. Theo once again held the door open for them all and they all filed into the building. This place, unlike the others, was a standalone two-story building. The other taverns had been on the first floor with residential rooms and spaces above. This one had noise and bustle coming from both stories. Before walking in, Tuni stopped in front of Theo to examine her face and her hand. When she deemed her check-up complete, Tuni walked in and Ava followed. Theo came up behind them and she placed a gentle hand on Ava’s back, guiding them to their spot.


	20. Bender pt. 2

Every place they went into they either had a spot that was reserved for them or wherever they decided to sit, the previous inhabitants would scatter. Theo led Ava to the back corner of the room to a series of couches and chairs. They had a good view of the whole room from their new spot and Ava began her routine inspection of the place upon finding a seat. This place was more diverse than the last places she had been in. Most of the bars and taverns they had been in were crowded with men but here there was an equal amount of both inside. 

Ava noticed other things that were different about this place. It was less of a bar and more of a gathering spot. Some people were making their way around the space with trays of drinks, food, and what looked like similar trays to the one they ordered at Grogon’s. There were also very scantily clad men and women making their rounds around the room. The men had either no shirt on or very tight sleeveless shirts and shorts on. The women were in small skirts and tight corsets, breasts practically falling out of their bindings. Upon further inspections, Ava noticed these men and women leading other patrons into rooms and the reality of where they were drawn on Ava. Wherever they were it was a hybrid between a bar, a drug longue, a gathering space, and a brothel.

Ava had never been inside a brothel before, especially not one that had men employees too. It didn’t seem to be as decrepit and nasty as her parents had made it out to be. She wasn’t experienced in the politics of it though. She was unaware of the differences of opinions over these establishments, having had only a glimpse into it the other night. Ava would have to read and ask Cooker about it, find out more, and form her own opinions. Theo, who had disappeared shortly after escorting them to their seats, came back and took up the spot on the couch next to Ava. 

Ava turned her attention to Theo. In the candlelight, Ava could see Theo’s busted lip and a bruise forming around her mouth. Her hand that was resting on the arm of the couch was swollen and there was drying blood on her rings. Ava had remembered the word that man had called Theo. It was a different tongue, a similar tone to the one Theo and the others had been speaking. She had so many questions for the pirate but she opted to relax back into the couch. Soon enough, people with all kinds of trays began passing through. By the time they had all left Ava had a full plate of food, some havcera, and a drink. 

“Wanna share that? I can light the pipe for us if you do,” Theo offered and pointed at the havcera Ava had asked for. She had been proud of herself for being able to answer when the server asked if she wanted anything. 

“Aye,” Ava handed her the pipe and the grass, “I’m not that good at the mechanics of it yet.”

Theo laughed, “It’s a learned skill.” 

Ava picked at her food as she watched Theo go through the whole process. It was like a small ritual and she could see the appeal of it all. The subculture of drugs was half the fun, it seemed like. She watched as Theo lit the pipe and held the smoke in her lungs. When she blew out, she tried to form a ring with the smoke. It failed and both of them laughed. Theo passed the pipe to Ava who took a hit. Once they had passed it back and forth and burned everything in the pipe, Theo put it down. They both relaxed against the back of the couch but Ava didn’t take her eyes off Theo, head turned toward the captain. 

Theo turned her head and grinned at Ava, “Go ahead.” 

“What?” Ava laughed. 

“Ask whatever questions you have?” Theo elaborated. 

“Why do you always assume I have questions?” 

“Well, don’t you?” 

“I do,” Ava chuckled a bit, staring into Theo’s deep brown eyes. She kept her eyes trained on Theo but moved her body so she was curled up sideways, “What did that man call you?” 

“Dokkil,” Theo whispered and Ava barely caught it over the noise in the place, “it means a lot of things. It’s layered. Bitch, whore, bastard, lowborn, scum, thief. There isn’t a word in common that captures exactly what it means. They are fighting words. It’s a challenge almost.” 

Theo was right, it was layered. Ava was right in her assumption though, the words were enough of a provocation, “What language was he speaking?” 

“Safri. The language spoken in Safriti,” Theo said. 

“Safriti? Where is that?” Ava asked. 

“You’re joking right?” Theo asked and Ava shook her head, “South Efriti. It’s called Safriti. Haven’t you been reading?” 

“Aye, but my books have had no mention of Safriti or South Efriti,” Ava defended herself. 

“Oi Cooker, when did South Efriti declare their separation?” Theo turned her head and asked her friend. 

“21st classification,” Cooker answered, barely looking away from her conversation.

“Oh, you haven't gotten that far. Sorry mate,” Theo said and faced Ava again, “Safri is the language they speak in South Efriti.” 

“But I thought no one spoke anything but Common? By the 10th classification all other languages had been eradicated,” Ava stated, it was something she knew for a fact. Everywhere she had ever been and in every book she had ever studied assumed that common was the only written and spoken language left. Ava knew that some words had managed to linger around, like the names of certain things, but she thought that that was the extent of any language other than Common. 

“Common is the only thing used in official documents, official trade, official business, and official history but people still speak their continent’s or region’s language,” Theo explained, “I’m sure The Center would like to believe they have some control over communication in their system but they don’t.”

The lack of knowledge Ava had still never failed to surprise Theo. She had met and boarded many women from greater houses, it wasn’t too common but over the lengths, the numbers added up. Most of them had been lacking in their knowledge of the real world in some way but Ava seemed to know a lot less than most of those girls. She had to remember not to make her feel bad, Ava seemed receptive to this new information and Theo did not want to jeopardize that. 

“So Safriti, is that what you were speaking with Xyra and Cooker?” Ava asked, storing the information Theo had given her about languages to access at another time. 

“No, that was Aelizan,” Theo said.

“How do you know Aelizan?” 

“I am from Aeliz,” Theo smiled at Ava, “I can read, write, and speak it. I taught it to Cooker and Xyra already knew a little.” 

“You can be jailed if you speak something other than common. Is that not enforced?” Ava asked, curious as to why something of such importance to nobles and greater houses was based on a lie. 

“Outside of the eye of the nobles it isn’t enforced. Greater houses that want to look good around classification will crackdown on the public speaking of languages other than common but there isn’t much anyone can do to stop it being taught in the homes,” Theo explained, delving a little into the complicated politics of language. 

“I thought you were going to kill that man,” Ava admitted, trying to change the subject to get to her other questions, “Why didn’t you? It isn’t illegal.”

“There is more to think about than the legality of my actions here. Everything is politics and everything has consequences. I don’t know that man, he could be a new crew member on a rival ship and that would be all the ammo they need to raid us,” Theo explained. 

“What did Xyra and Cooker tell you? When they pulled you off of him?” Ava asked, curious as to what would get her to calm down. 

“That it was not worth the headache and a ruined night,” Theo smiled, “They know me. When I am not sober I tend to have a knack for getting into fights with men. I got a little carried away and they had to remind me that it was not the first time I’d been insulted, I’d get over it. They were right. There are far worse punishments he could endure.” 

“Which is what you told Xyra to do on our way here?” Ava asked. 

“Perceptive,” Theo noted, “aye, she will be spreading the word that no brothel or bar serves him. He loses and I don’t get in trouble. Plus he had a last name. He probably has money and him winding up dead wouldn't be good for me.” 

“So you’re having him blacklisted from almost every place in Niveal?” Ava confirmed. 

“Aye,” Theo smirked, “sucks to be him.” 

Ava nodded in agreement and stayed quiet. She had no more questions and Theo had nothing to add either. They just stared at each other. Theo was lost in Ava’s green eyes. They were glassy from all the smoking and drinking and she looked sleepy. She got a good look at Ava. Her nose was a cute button, slightly upturned at the end. Freckles lined her pale cheeks. Her hair had begun to grow out since Tuni had cut it and now it was looming over her eyebrows, threatening to block her vision. 

Theo was pulled from her silent staredown with Ava by someone calling her name. 

“Captain,” a woman purred above her. 

Theo looked up to see one of the women who worked in the brothel. She had a loose black skirt on with a tight corset on top. Theo cleared her throat and smiled at the woman, “Aye, what can I do for you?” 

The woman sat in Theo’s lap and wrapped her arms around the Captain. Theo wrapped an arm instinctively around the woman’s waist. The woman leaned in close and whispered into Theo’s ear, “I need your help. Will you follow me?” 

Theo was used to this. It was how most women approached her with a problem, feigning that they were pursuing a client when really they were asking Theo for help. Theo squeezed her hand on the woman’s thigh to let her know she would help her. Theo would have to sit there for a while, with the woman on her lap. It took more than a few seconds for these women to score clients and it would look odd if she got up as soon as she sat down. 

“I’ve heard a lot about you,” she said in Theo’s ear. 

“Only good things, I hope,” Theo joked and looked up at the beautiful woman. Her face was painted and her lips were bright red. She was fairly new as Theo had never met her before. Theo knew most of the women that were staffed at the brothel’s she protected, if not by name then by face. Theo wondered what could be the issue, she had never had problems with this establishment before. 

After an appropriate amount of time, the woman got up and took Theo’s hand, leading them to a room. Theo did not get to see Ava’s reaction but she’s sure it was one of confusion. The last time they had spoken on the topic of brothels, Theo had stated she was against using these establishments for sex. Theo walked into the room the woman had led them to and closed the door behind her. The woman urged Theo to get on the bed and Theo awkwardly got onto it. The woman, who’s name she never got, walked back to the door and locked it. Theo instantly reached for her dagger, something was not right.

“It’s almost too easy, babe,” a figure appeared from the shadows in the corner. 

Theo got up from the bed and looked between the figure and the door. She was blocked in. It wasn’t that Theo wanted to run because she was scared, it was because she knew that voice. She drew her dagger out, knowing she would be putting no use to it. 

“Viv,” Theo said, “you could have just come talk to me.” 

“I couldn’t have,” Viv said, coming out into the light, “Your guard dogs out there wouldn’t have let me near you.”

It had been quite a while since Theo had seen Vivexa, nearing one length. The tall slender woman would often come into Theo’s dreams. Her long blonde hair and blue eyes were at the center of Theo’s fantasies when she was younger. Her and Viv had a long and complicated history that started almost eight lengths before. Viv was always in and out of their lives and they never knew how long she would stick around. When Theo first got command of a ship, Viv came around and was on the crew for about a length before having a nasty falling out with Theo and most of the crew. 

Well, most of the crew had a nasty falling out with Viv and Theo was the only idiot that kept being swept up in her path. Every time Viv resurfaced, Theo would tend to her hand and foot. Vivexa was almost like the Navi to her Xyra but way worse. For about a length, Theo and Viv were together and they were inseparable. As kids, they had always had a great time and as they got older they began to flirt with one another whenever Viv came around. Theo never let it get past that until Viv came on to be a part of Theo’s crew. Shortly after recruiting Viv, Theo fell hard and fast for her. She turned out to be on the crew with wrong intentions. 

Vivexa had been hired by another pirate captain to secure information about important leads aboard the Scorned Woman. She had been paid a handsome amount to funnel all leads to that captain through written communication. Her mission was to get close with the captain and the others aboard to undermine Theo’s efforts to advance her crew. Xyra was the one who had caught her and the crew unanimously voted her off. Theo was crushed, she was heartbroken. She hadn’t been with anyone romantically since. To be honest, Theo was afraid the betrayal was so deep she would never learn to trust again. 

Every once in awhile Viv would pop up. Sometimes it was just to see Theo and catch up and other times it was for a favor. Theo should have stopped seeing Viv lengths ago. She had a talent of getting into Theo’s head and burying herself under Theo’s skin. After seeing Viv, Theo would dream about her for cycles. Longing for her touch and her affection even though Viv had brought nothing but pain. Theo’s crew was correct in being cautious of Viv. 

“What do you want?” Theo asked. 

Viv pulled a sack full of coins out and handed it to the worker that had brought Theo in the room, “Theo you know better than to ask questions when company is around. Thank you, dear. You’ll exit through the window.” 

“I’m not doing that,” the woman scoffed at the ridiculous request. 

“I’ve paid you a week’s worth of wages for two things. For you to bring her in here and for you to leave through the window,” Viv said, “I will take the gold back if you would rather go out the door.” 

The woman glared at Viv and made her way to the open window. It was on the first floor so it was not that bad but Theo still felt guilty about the woman having to do this. Theo could stop it. She could just tell the woman to walk out of the door and Theo would compensate the woman for her lost wages. But if Theo did that, it meant that her chances of being alone with Viv would be slashed. Her guard dogs, as Viv called them, would be in the room within minutes after seeing the woman walk out alone. So Theo stood by and let the woman leave through the window. 

“I need information,” Viv got straight to the point once the woman had left. 

“How’d you find me?” Theo asked. She wanted to know if it was a coincidence that Viv had found her or if she had been tracked to Niveal. It would have been a problem if it was the latter. 

“Word travels fast when The Captain docks on Niveal’s shores. You and your ladies are predictable too. You always end your first night here. Don’t worry. I wasn’t keeping tabs on you,” Viv reassured but Theo couldn’t tell if it was the truth. 

“What job are you on?” Theo asked. 

“I got hired to look into a string of deaths. Some merchant group is looking into it. Word is that there has been an increase in crew’s disappearing,” Viv said and Theo was interested now. 

“What have you heard exactly?” Theo asked. She hadn’t heard anything but she also hadn’t been back to Corinspe in a while. She was a few cycles behind on underworld happenings. Theo hoped that by phrasing her question that way, Viv would think Theo knew something too and just didn’t want to spill first. 

“Hune, Jorkev, Virauli, and Espbar. All gone,” Viv said and finally moved from her spot and sat on the bed, “Been following Espbar’s death and all signs are pointing to death by a certain lady pirate, is that true?”

Theo simply shrugged, “He raided us. It was within the code.” 

“Not here to accuse you of crimes against pirates. I just needed to confirm you’re the reason he went down,” Viv said, “Do you know anything about the others? Did you by chance sink them too?”

Theo sat down next to her on the bed, “I don’t and I didn’t. You’ve got no leads?”

Viv shook her head, she was still calm and collected but Theo knew that under the facade was a layer of anxiety and uncertainty. There was rarely a job Viv couldn’t do. 

“None. No one knows anything. I’ve checked in with all my sources and none have any clue of any ongoing disputes any of them had. No treasure hunts that overlapped or enemies they were out running. There were no storms recorded on the days of their voyages. They all simply checked out of one port and never registered in another. Espbar dying too was just a coincidence,” Viv delved into her assignment. She was usually never this open so she must have really needed help. 

“I’ve heard nothing. I’ve been so busy trying to keep my crew afloat that I haven’t been focused on getting any news. I wish I could help,” Theo said. 

It was a lie. Even if she did have information she wouldn’t have shared it. Theo might have had a soft spot for Viv and she couldn’t resist her when she was around but she never would divulge crew secrets. Viv, however, didn’t know this. Theo had managed to play it so that Viv thought the captain was wrapped around her finger, willing to do anything. That wasn’t the case. Theo’s resolve to keep secrets to herself and her crew was strong and while Viv could get her into bed in less than a minute, she couldn’t manipulate her in that way. Theo could take the blow to the ego, Viv thinking Theo was helpless to her charms because sometimes she got graced with great information. 

Like what she had just heard. Three pirates, dead. No leads. It was something of interest and something she would need to tell the crew about.

“Your client, the merchant, what’s their stake in all of this?” Theo asked, wondering why Viv would even take a job with them in the first place. They were usually not in the business of hiring underworld sleuths to do their work. 

“Trying to be the first on some new route they’ve mapped out from Efriti to Elox, it’s said to cut shipping time by a third. With all of these pirates disappearing the client wants to know what’s going on,” Viv explained. 

“What’s it to them?” Theo asked, still not understanding the value of paying a large sum of money to find out why pirates are dying. If it wasn’t for the endless hours of drinking and doing drugs she had just gone through, maybe her mind wouldn’t have been as foggy.

“All of these ships have vanished somewhere between Efritit, Dove Island, and Elox. If the pirates are dying because the waters are dangerous then it’s too dangerous for my merchant. If these pirates are dying because someone is hunting them then it’s the perfect opportunity for my merchant to establish his route. No pirates, no problems,” Viv spelled it out for Theo. 

It made sense now. Theo would bet her life’s treasure that there was foul play involved. The pirates that had gone missing were big names in Baethos and it would have taken a freak of nature out on the sea to make any of them go missing. She wasn’t going to let Viv know that. Her and Xyra would figure it out, they would look into it after this was all over. 

“Right,” Theo nodded and stood up from the bed, “I wish I could provide some information but I’m no use this time around.”

“Leaving so soon?” Viv asked and made herself comfortable on the bed. 

“Aye, the girls are waiting for me. I should probably get back to them,” Theo made an excuse. She knew that the women outside were drunk and entertained and were not waiting around in any sense of the word. 

“You know as well as I do that all of them have their heads up somebody’s skirts by now. Stay for a chat. It’s been a while,” Viv patted the spot next to her. 

Her presence was inviting Theo in. Reminding her of all the reasons that Viv had a permanent residence in her head. She was charismatic, funny, witty, confident, collected, cocky; like Theo in so many ways except Viv had nothing to lose. Theo envied her in that way. Viv was an agent to no one but herself, untethered and with no responsibility for anyone. Theo stopped herself from taking another step forward. If she ended up in that bed, chances were that within a half-hour their clothes would be off. It wasn’t that Theo was not interested, she was, but it was probably not a good idea. 

Viv sensed Theo’s hesitation and shifted on the bed to be on all fours. She crawled towards the end of the bed, only a few feet in front of Theo, “Tell me about all the pirate adventures I’ve been missing out on. Taking down Espbar must have been hell.” 

Dammit, Viv was good. If there was anything that Theo liked to talk about it was herself and her successful missions. A smile broke out over her face against her will and she took a step forward. It was Niveal. Everything off-limits was fair game here and Theo was going to indulge.

“It wasn’t that hard. Just needed a skilled master gunner, navigator, crew, and of course an amazing captain that knew exactly what to do in the heat of battle,” Theo teased and Viv reached her hand out and grabbed Theo’s coat. 

Viv pulled Theo closer to the bed and then sat back down normally. She put her hands on Theo’s waist and looked up at her, “You’re hurt. When’s that from?” 

“Right before coming here,” Theo said and held up her hurt hand, it did not look too bad. 

Viv pulled Theo down a bit and cupped her cheek, “I’m sure the other person was worse.” 

“He could have been much worse but Cooker stopped me from killing him,” Theo confessed. Theo had been planning on it. As soon as that word came out of his mouth her vision had gone black. The only thing she could see was him and she had every intention of seeing his head removed from his body. Cooker, thankfully, stopped her. It was her job to stop Theo from doing stupid things when they were in Niveal. Even though there was some lingering resentment from Cooker, it was nice to know her friend still had her back. 

“Cooker? Wouldn’t have expected her to be the one to ruin the fun. Was Xyra on vacation? Has she fallen ill and was unable to step in?” Viv said and Theo shot her a glare. 

“Leave Xy alone,” Theo pushed Viv’s hands off of her waist. It was a warning to stop or Viv would get no further that night. 

“Fine,” Viv held her hands up in the air, “But really, are you okay?” 

Sometimes Viv looked at her in a way that made Theo think she cared. Why else would she ask? Why else would she look up at Theo that way? But that kind of thinking was what continued to make Theo get so caught up in Viv. She needed to stop those thoughts. Whether Viv cared or not, Theo was not available to her. She had learned her lesson and knew better than to be romantically involved with her past lover. 

“I’m fine. Thanks for asking. How about you? Been taking care of yourself?” Theo asked and nudged Viv to move. 

Viv moved up the bed and made way for Theo to sit. 

“I’ve never been better. With the classification around, jobs keep coming in.” Viv said. 

“Haven’t heard any news surface about you for half a length. I was starting to think I had finally gotten rid of you,” Theo teased. 

“You keep tabs on me? Captain, that is so sweet,” Viv countered, placing her hand over her heart. 

“It’s to ensure you are very far away from everything we are doing,” Theo laughed, “Xyra’s got someone in every continent just for that.” 

“I love being such an important factor in your lives,” Viv smiled. They could go back and forth all night and Theo knew it. 

Theo saw the night unfolding before her and she wanted to fast forward past all the snarky comments that were followed by flirting, and finally sex. They had been through this so many times that Theo wanted to just get to the action. It wasn’t like she thought Viv minded, it was usually Viv that would try and rush things. 

Theo stood up and took her red coat off and draped it across a chair. She followed suit with her boots and laid them neatly on the floor. 

“Why are you taking that off?” Viv asked, wondering why the Captain had started to undress all of a sudden. 

“We both know where this is going to wind up so I am just trying to save time,” Theo stated and began to unbutton her shirt. 

“One question about me and straight to sex? You haven’t seen me in a length,” Viv laughed but also began to unbutton the shirt she had on. 

“You’ve got a lot of jobs. Betrayed a lot of people. Made a lot of money. Threw morality out of the window and helped inform a few uprisings. I know the gist of it. I’m tracking you, remember?” Theo walked over in just her pants and undershirt on. 

Viv was smirking at Theo as she got into bed, “You are being feisty tonight.” 

Theo leaned back on her elbows, “I’m sorry. If you want to catch up we can.” 

“No need. You’ve gotten a lot of money. You’ve raided all the merchant ships you could in the east so now you’ve come back west. I’m tracking you,” Viv chuckled and crawled over to where Theo was and straddled her. 

“You said you weren’t,” Theo placed her hands on Viv’s waist. 

“I lied. I do that sometimes,” Viv leaned in and kissed Theo. 

Theo brought a hand up to hold the back of Viv’s head flush against her lips. It was a familiar feeling but Theo had forgotten what her lips felt like. They were plump and enticing. Theo flipped them over. 

Viv pulled away from Theo, “You’re good?”

“Yeah,” Theo paused, her gold necklace dangling as she hovered over the blonde girl, “are you?” 

“Would be better if you came back and kissed me,” Viv admitted. 

Theo laughed and leaned down to kiss the girl, trying to not think of the long term effects a night with Viv would have.


	21. Bender pt. 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello yall. just want to remind you that a length (year) is 500 days. so the characters in the story are older in earth years than they are in the story. 16 doesn't equal 16. 16 in Baethos is like 22 in earth years. 
> 
> the formula is 500*age/365

Ava and Theo’s conversation had been cut short by the woman who sat on her lap. An icy feeling set over Ava’s chest when she saw Theo’s arms wrap around the person on her lap. Jealously? Over what? Theo could barely even be called Ava’s friend. She had no right to the captain. Plus, she wasn’t even interested in Theo because Ava was not a nox. As far as she knew anyway. She had never been with a man further than a kiss, she had never been interested in a man, she had never even imagined a future where she was with a man. 

Ava had thought for lengths that she wasn’t interested in men because around her were just assholes and bastards. She thought her negative feelings towards ending up with a man were just rebellious thoughts aimed at angering her parents. But as she spent more time in the real world she was beginning to think she was building lies up in her head. Maybe it was about time that Ava had started to consider a possibility where maybe she was a nox or something along those lines. Or maybe she would continue to push the confusing thoughts away. It was easier to ignore the tightness in her chest when she thought about these things than to give in and explore those feelings. 

Theo had been gone for a while and she didn’t know what the hold up was. Ava thought that Theo did not partake in the brothel business but apparently that was untrue. She had been sitting alone on the couches, sipping on different drinks as the trays came around to her. Oceane had gone off into one of the rooms, Tuni had met up with an old friend and they were lost in conversation. The others, she had no idea where they had gone off to. They would stop by and then get whisked away to somewhere else. She was about three glasses of wine into solitude when a very nicely built man walked past her.

He had no shirt on. His chest was defined and his arms looked like a lot of work had gone into them. He had a nice face to look at and Ava did her best to whistle him over. It ended up going embarrassingly bad but the man got the hint and came over. He sat down on the couch next to Ava and smiled a charming smile at her. 

Ava returned the smile, “I have a question.”

“And for someone as pretty as you, I hope to have an answer,” the man cooed at her, trying his best to charm her. 

Ava ignored the comment, “How much would it cost for you to sit here and talk with me so I don’t look like a sad and sorry sulker in the corner?” 

The man laughed and scooted a little closer to Ava, “I charge one gold an hour and you can do whatever you want with me.” 

Ava blushed a little at the suggestion but she shook her head, “Talking is all I need. I’ll give you ten gold if you just sit here and make me seem interesting and laugh at every few things I say.” 

“My boss won’t be happy with me just lounging around…” the man admitted but he looked a little distressed to be passing up so much gold, “would you want to go into a room? We can talk there.” 

Ava hesitated. She didn’t mind being in a room if it meant she was to be out of the eyesight of everyone. She didn’t want the pirates in her group to pity her and feel like they had to come over and comfort her. However, she also had less than pleasant experiences when it came to being alone with men. The two attacks she had been through weighed on her mind. 

“Alright,” Ava obliged, also wanting to be able to share her money with someone who looked like they needed it, “but don’t try anything. I have a dagger and I have been known to use it from time to time.” 

Ava tried to seem threatening but it did not come off that way. The man laughed as he helped her to her feet. He led her to an empty room on the first floor. As she went to the room she caught Cooker’s gaze who sent her a questioning look. Ava shrugged her shoulders and went inside the room. The door shut behind her and the room looked clean and fresh, different than what she had expected. 

“Not to be direct but we usually ask for payment upfront,” the man said, “You don’t have to do the full ten gold, the standard rate is okay. I would more than happy to not have sex with you for one gold.” 

Ava reached into her pocket and pulled out a handful of gold and set it on the small dresser in the room. She didn’t count but there was far more than ten gold. Now she saw the appeal Theo found in giving her money away. The man looked shocked at the amount of money she had laid out but did not object. 

“What’s your name?” Ava asked. 

“Zeal,” he answered, “and yours?” 

“Ava.” 

“Nice to meet you, Ava,” he said with a smile. His charming demeanor from earlier had worn off and it was replaced with a friendly one. 

He dragged the two chairs that were gathered around the fireplace towards the window and set them down. He took a seat and Ava did too. She peered out the window to see that the building they were on was high up on a hill. They were overlooking the whole street below them and Ava had just realized how far they had trekked away from the port. She saw the water glimmering against the moonlight far away. 

“It’s beautiful here,” Ava commented. 

Zeal smiled and watched the scenery outside alongside Ava, “This room has the nicest view out of all of them. You’re with The Captain’s crew?” 

“Aye,” Ava said and watched as the people scurried along the street in front of the window, “Just started.” 

“You’ve got quite a bit of money for just starting,” Zeal pointed out and Ava looked down at her pouch. 

“I didn’t even do anything for this, they just gave it to me so I could have fun in Niveal,” Ava admitted. Stupid considering Zeal could overpower her and steal her unearned money. 

“Are they accepting applications?” Zeal joked. 

Ava laughed at the man and went quiet. She had paid lots of gold for a conversation but she couldn’t find it in her to start one. Zeal would have to take the lead if he felt uncomfortable. Ava was spent and she couldn't wait until they stopped for the night. It had been fun and she would have rather been with this group than anywhere else but it seemed like they had unlimited stamina. 

Zeal piped up after a while, “If you don’t mind me asking. Why is it that you are only looking for a conversation and not anything else?” 

Ava tried to come up with a reason but there was not one. She was relaxed, in a nice room, with a nice looking man, and she had money to pay for the service. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to have sex, she had been ready for lengths. There was not a single reason why she shouldn’t have tried to have sex that very night. After a few more minutes of silence and thinking, Ava had made up her mind.

“I’ve never done anything with anyone before so I guess I am a bit nervous,” she lied, “But I guess now is as good a time as any.”

Zeal laughed a little before realizing that Ava was serious. He searched her face hoping for some answers to her sudden change of heart but Ava was giving nothing away. Ava looked at Zeal, hopeful that he would understand what she meant without having to say the words. 

“Um,” Zeal stood up and held his hand out towards Ava, “Come with me then.” 

Ava took his hand when she stood up and was taken to the bed. She looked up at him and he sat her on the bed, “You just tell me what to do and I’ll do it.” 

For the first time since she had met Zeal, his confidence seemed to waver. He looked down on Ava with uncertainty, “Why have you never done it?” 

“I wasn’t somewhere where I could. It never came up,” Ava admitted. It was the truth. 

“How old are you?” Zeal asked, trying to make sure Ava wasn’t underage. She did not look like it but Zeal wanted to be careful. 

“16,” Ava replied, not looking forward to getting the typical response she got when people found out she was unlaid at 16, “before you react to that, I know, that’s old. I know this is weird. There is too much of a backstory that comes along with any of the questions you are going to ask next so I won’t be answering. If you don’t want to, that is okay, I’m not trying to get you to do something you aren’t comfortable with. You can keep the gold.” 

“No,” Zeal said calmly, a stark contrast to the out of breath Ava who had just winded herself up, “No more questions.” 

He took her hands and placed them on his stomach. She began to feel the muscles under his skins and ran her hands around his torso. Zeal said nothing, his presence was comforting to her. He had kind eyes and a warm smile and Ava was glad she had picked someone who seemed understanding for her first time. It wasn’t that she held any value in her lack of partners. The first time to her always seemed overrated and overdramatic. She was just relieved it wasn't with a rough asshole. 

“I’m going to kiss you now, okay?” Zeal said and leaned down. 

Ava nodded and that was all the approval he needed. He cupped her cheek in his hand and kissed her. Ava craned her head upwards to meet him halfway. It was a nice kiss, probably nicer than any of the ones she had had before but there was nothing else. Her sisters had spoken about butterflies and tingly feelings in their chest and elsewhere. 

Ava felt nothing. Zeal’s lips were nice and soft and it was fun but there was nothing more to it. She hadn’t felt the spark she had been hoping for, as with every time before that. Maybe people were just speaking in metaphors. Or maybe everyone thought they had to feel that way and so they just repeated what they had heard in hopes of fitting in. She felt herself getting laid onto the bed and Zeal was over her, lips never leaving hers. 

Ava decided to do her part and she lifted her arms and wrapped them over his shoulder pulling him in as close as she could. Her legs slipped open and he slotted himself between them. One arm held him up and the other came to rest on her thigh. This was the most compromising position she had ever been in and it wasn’t even that bad. She felt his hand on her thigh and her stomach jolted a little bit, the wrong kind of jolt. No spark, more like a tightness. She ignored the feeling and allowed him to keep kissing her. 

Zeal moved away from her lips and began to leave a trail of kisses down her neck. As he did that, he moved his hand to the waistband of her pants. Ava had heard enough from others to know what was coming next and she suddenly felt panicked. Realization of what was about to happen dawned on her and she quickly pushed at his shoulders. 

“I need a minute!” Ava spurted out. 

Zeal quickly pulled back and looked at the redhead laying on the bed. He stood in front of the bed awkwardly, wondering what he had done, “I’m sorry, Ava.” 

“It’s not you. I just need a minute. It was going a bit too fast,” Ava said. She would be ready to go; she just needed a second to breathe. 

“Maybe we shouldn’t do anything right now,” Zeal offered, “If it’s about making the best use of your money you can have it all back.” 

Ava was touched that Zeal was so understanding but it was not about the money. Ava couldn’t verbalize the compilation of emotions their small make-out session had surfaced, “It’s not the money, Zeal. I have more than enough. Please keep it.” 

Ava hadn’t moved from her spot on the bed. Opting to lay down and stare at the ceiling instead of looking at Zeal. Zeal dragged a chair over from the window and sat in front of the bed. 

“Then what is it?” he asked. 

“I’m sure you do not want to hear about my problems,” Ava laughed. There wasn’t any humor behind the laugh, it was dry. 

“I once let someone hand feed me a three-course meal while completely naked for two gold. I’m sure I can listen to your problems for what you have just given me,” Zeal promised, “What is the matter?” 

“I don’t want to have sex with you,” Ava finally admitted.

Zeal tilted his head and chuckled, “What was wrong? I don’t want to sound cocky but I am not used to negative reactions so I could use some feedback.” 

“That is exactly it. I’m sure you are great at it and a lot of people like it-”

“A lot of people,” 

“Precisely. Why don’t I want it? Why don’t I get the same reaction that others talk about? Is it all just talk and we are lying to ourselves?” Ava rambled. She was aware she was on the precipice of a rant and she tried reeling it in, “Is sex good for you?” 

“Yes, great,” Zeal provided, “Sometimes I enjoy it more than other times. It depends on how attracted I am to that person.” 

“But I think you are attractive,” Ava countered. 

“Do you though?” 

“Aye,” Ava defended, “I think your face is cute and you’ve got a nice body.” 

Zeal smiled at Ava and shook his head, “When you put your hands on me earlier. What was going through your mind?” 

“That your skin was warm for not having a shirt on…” Ava said, unsure of why that was the question she was asked. 

“Most people who I sleep with cannot get their hands off of me. They think I am so attractive they want to touch every inch of my body. They comment on it, they ogle, they compliment. They want to pin me on the bed and go wild. That is what I mean when I say attraction. You can’t take your eyes off of the person and they give you this feeling in your stomach of need,” Zeal tried explaining. 

“Definitely none of that,” Ava muttered. What was wrong with her? 

“It’s okay to not be attracted to anyone. Some people aren’t,” Zeal said and Ava laid back down and covered her face with her hands. 

But, she had been attracted to someone in that way Zeal had described. The other night when Theo had only her undershirt on and Ava was able to see under the many layers for the first time. Ava had felt an urge inside her she did not understand. Her blood went cold. This could not be possible.

It wasn’t until the tears were dripping down her face that she realized she was crying. Before she knew it she was sobbing. So much so that she had to sit up to even catch her breath. Zeal wasted no time in getting up. Ava was scared she had frightened him away but he approached the bed. He got in and pulled Ava to him, wrapping his arms comfortingly around her. Ava did not hold back, even though she wished she could have. The sobs ripped through her chest and she could not control it. It felt like the hundredth time she had broken down in such a short amount of time. It was like her whole life she had lived without emotion but now at any moment, they could escape. 

She had been taught that to be a nox was to be grotesque and horrid. It was unnatural is what she was taught and she had so firmly believed it for so long. She sobbed as she remembered the scared little girl hiding the truth that she didn’t like any of the boys the way her friends did. Ever since she could remember, it was the topic of conversation. With friends, with family, with siblings. It was always about boys, about stolen kisses in the gardens, about torrid affairs with groundskeepers. Part of the reason she lost her friends was that she could no longer keep up with feigning interest. As her friends started to see boys, kiss them, and get frisky she couldn’t keep up. 

Every aspect of her life revolved around her expected attraction to men. Her future had depended on it. Ava had learned since then. She had run away and she had rid herself of that philosophy that a union between a man and a woman was the only way. Why hadn’t she stopped to think it could apply to herself? It was then that Ava remembered her sister. Her sister had broken Baethean law and had something Ava didn’t fully understand going on with Cooker. It was more common than she had ever been made to believe. For the first time in her 16 lengths since being birthed, Ava allowed herself to consider a possibility in which she would not end up with a man. 

Ava calmed down. It took a bit but she got there. Zeal had been diligently rubbing her back the whole time. Even after all that time, she couldn’t begin to formulate the words to explain anything to Zeal. 

“I didn’t mean to upset you,” Zeal said sincerely. 

Ava patted his arm reassuringly, “You didn’t say anything to upset me. You’ve helped me more than you know.” 

“Would you like to talk about it?” Zeal asked. 

“I feel I owe you at least an explanation,” Ava said, “I don't think I am attracted to men. I think I like women...” 

It was the first time Ava had said it out loud.

Zeal nodded, “If you want, I can set you up with any of my friends. They’ll give you a good rate. The girls always love other girls, it’s a nice break. I’m not saying you need to be laid to understand your attraction to girls but the offer is there.” 

Ava shrugged, “Maybe. I’m not sure.” 

Zeal rubbed his hand up and down her arm, “What’s on your mind?” 

“I have a lot of questions,” Ava said then chuckled a bit, “I always do.” 

“I can answer any questions you have. Well, I might be able to,” Zeal offered. 

“What do you know about this?” 

“I like boys too,” Zeal shrugged, “Might not be the same but I think I have some experience.”

“Do you feel the same way for both? Like when you are with boys? Attraction is just attraction?” Ava asked. 

Zeal thought about his response for a moment, “To me? Yes. I can’t speak for other people but to me, if I am attracted to someone I feel it, and if I am not then it’s kind of lackluster.” 

Zeal had pinpointed the exact word Ava had been looking for. Her experience thus far had been lackluster.

“Aye,” Ava said, “I know what you mean. That’s how it was with you, no offense. You were great but I didn't have that…” 

“Oomph?” Zeal made a noise.

Ava laughed and nodded, “Have you ever been told you have a way with words?” 

“Once or twice,” He quipped back, “You don’t need to experience it to know but my offer is still on the table.” 

“Thank you. I’ll pass for now. You can go if you need to though. I’m just going to stay here,” Ava said. 

“Mind if I stay? I’ve made my gold for the night and I much prefer your company to anyone else’s out there tonight,” Zeal said. 

“I don’t mind,” Ava said, “Zeal?”

“Yes?”

“Do you think I am attractive?” Ava asked. 

“Yes, I do,” Zeal laughed. 

“That is so sweet of you to say. I cannot believe it. I’m fetching,” Ava said and finally broke free from Zeal’s embrace, “You get an extra three gold just for the compliment.” 

“Why thank you, ma’am,” Zeal bowed as best he could from his position. 

“We’ve got a few hours, what is your deal?” Ava asked, ready to get to know the boy who had been so good with her.


	22. Bender pt. 4

It took every ounce of willpower inside of Theo not to fall asleep in the room with Viv. She managed to get up and get dressed. Viv was right there with her, getting dressed as fast as she could. Theo’s leg shook a little as she balanced herself to try and put her other foot in her boot. It had been an exciting few hours and Theo did not know how she was going to begin to explain this to anyone. 

“Shall we?” Viv asked as she finished getting dressed. 

“Excuse me?” Theo laughed, “You’re going out the window.” 

“Like fuck I am,” Viv said, “I’m walking out that door.” 

Theo narrowed her eyes at Viv. They both knew Theo was fucked if Viv walked out of the room with Theo. Xyra would lose her shit. Theo also knew how stubborn Viv was. If she said she was going out the door, she was going out the door. Theo sighed dejectedly and walked out. If Viv decided to brave the belly of the beast then she could, Theo would not step in to help if things went south. Ripping Viv’s heart out of her chest had been Xyra’s goal for a while and Viv knew that. If that was the way the night went it would have been Viv’s fault. 

The building had cleared out significantly and Theo could only spot two people sitting in the section they had reserved. Looking around the room, she saw none of her crew. Viv was right behind her. Theo tried to avoid walking directly to the section, trying to shake Viv before arriving.

It was no use. Tuni had managed to spot them in the room and Theo gave up trying to hide and swerve. She walked over to their section and was grateful to see only Tuni and Cooker sitting there, Xyra nowhere in sight.

“Where are the rest?” Theo asked.

“At the inn crashing for the night, they got tired of waiting around,” Tuni said and stood up, “I’m going back to the ship to spend the night with Mor. I’ll see you in a few nights, Cap.” 

“Fortune,” Viv acknowledged her.

“Vivexa,” Tuni replied with a polite nod and walked away with another word. 

Cooker, whose head had shot up when she heard the familiar voice, was a little warmer than Tuni was, “Viv. A pleasure to see you.” 

“I’m sure it is,” she joked, “Nice to see you too, Cook. I’m liking the new tattoos.”

Cooker smiled and touched her neck where she had begun the next expansion of her tattoos. Theo looked around the room and once again saw none of their crew. 

“Why haven’t you left to the inn? Waiting on someone?” Theo asked. 

“Aye, you and Red,” Cooker explained.

“Red? She’s still here?” Theo looked around but couldn’t find the girl. 

Cooker pointed over to a room and Theo’s eyebrows shot up. Ava was in a room with someone? Who allowed that to happen? Ava had the right to do anything she wanted but Theo also had the right to be worried, she reasoned. She was the captain and one of her soon to be crew members, who had no idea how Niveal or brothels worked, was in a room with someone alone. 

“Who’s Red and what’s it about her that makes you so worried?” Viv asked 

“None of your business, Viv,” Theo snapped. 

Viv made a mocking sound at Theo, “Looks like The Captain’s got a little crush.”

“I do not. She is new on my ship and I’m just worried about her safety,” Theo defended, ignoring the second comment about her relationship with the new recruit, “you can either be helpful or leave.”

Viv held her hands up, “Then I’ll be leaving. Being helpful isn’t within my abilities.”

“How long has she been in there?” Theo asked once Viv was gone. 

“So we are just going to ignore the fact that Viv was just here and you spent the last two hours with her?” Cooker asked, not letting the Captain gloss over that fact. 

“Aye, there is a lot to discuss but I figured it could wait until the appropriate time,” Theo said. 

“Three cycles from now?” Cooker tried, letting yet another petty jab slip out. 

“When we sit down as a crew to discuss ship business,” Theo spat back. She glared at Cooker and Cooker just stared at her back, “How long has she been in there?” 

“Few hours. She must be having fun in there,” Cooker said and Theo felt uneasy about that. 

“Or she had 100 gold and she was led to a room to be jumped,” Theo said as she quickly made her way to the room Ava was in. There was a weight at the pit of her stomach, worry causing a lump in her throat. She was aware that the likelihood that Ava was hurt was slim but it still affected her. Maybe there was a truth to what some people had been saying, it was a possibility that she cared about the new pirate. 

Theo stopped in front of the door and let out a sigh. The last thing she needed was to get attached to someone new. In the pirate world, nothing was certain and a new person she got close to meant another opportunity for heartbreak and loss. She had kept her distance from new crew members the past two lengths. Having lost so many friends her first two lengths as captain, she figured she would be hurt less if she distanced herself from people. She was a good captain, friendly and open to all that requested her presence but she made less of a point to grow close to and befriend her whole crew. Theo considered maybe she needed to distance herself from Ava but then she remembered how she felt the nights Ava stopped coming by. It was lonely and she had grown used to the friendship of the redhead.

If there was a time to cut Ava off, it was now. Go to the inn, fall asleep, and leave Cooker here to wait for Ava. It would be subtle but it would be Theo’s way of showing Ava that she wouldn’t be there at all times. Theo considered it. Considered stepping away and protecting both Ava and herself from whatever inkling of attraction she was feeling. 

Theo knocked anyway. She had made her choice, “Ava, it’s Theo. I just wanted to let you know that we were wondering if you were okay.” 

She heard shuffling in the room and Ava opened the door. Her clothes were all on and she seemed relaxed and normal until Theo saw her face. Her nose was red and the areas around her eyes were puffy. She had been crying.

“Are you okay?!” Theo asked. Before waiting for an answer, her instincts kicked in and she pushed past Ava and into the room. 

Theo had been expecting to see a woman on the bed, for some reason. Theo sometimes had trouble remembering that not everyone around her was a nox. She had been simply worried before, thinking only that Ava might have been robbed but now Theo was furious. Ava crying and a man on the bed painted a clear picture in her head of what happened. She rushed to the side of the bed and dragged the man out of it. He fell to the ground and Theo pressed her knee against his chest, pinning him to the side of the bed. 

“What the fuck did you do to her?” Theo said and raised her fist threateningly before realizing who the boy was, “Zeal?” 

“I didn’t touch her, I swear!” Zeal brought his arms up to cover his face, “I mean, I did but only because she asked!” 

Theo felt hands grabbing at her clothes and tugging her back, “Theo, get off of him!” 

It was Ava. Theo looked at a scared Zeal and backed away then she looked at Ava. Ava had been crying, it was unmistakable but if it wasn’t because of Zeal then what was it? She felt embarrassed at the outburst. She was going to beat the life out of whoever had hurt Ava without even getting the full story. 

“Are you okay?” Theo asked again. 

“If you had let me finish the first time I would have told you I was fine,” Ava snapped, a little moody over the intrusion. If Theo had gotten to just go off to a room with someone why couldn’t Ava? 

“You’ve been crying though,” Theo pointed out stupidly, trying to make her case. 

“Aye,” Ava nodded and crossed her arms, “and Zeal has done nothing but help me.” 

Theo looked over at the boy that was still on the floor. She extended her hand to him and helped him up, “Mate, I’m sorry. I saw a man on the bed and assumed the worst.” 

“I would have too,” Zeal admitted as he was helped up, “Nice to see you, Captain.”

Theo tipped her hat in his direction and smiled, “I see you’ve met the latest addition to my crew.”

“Indeed, I’ve had quite a nice time chatting with her tonight,” Zeal said and flashed a smile at his new redheaded friend.

“Just chatting?” Theo teased but deep down she wanted to know the answer. Had Ava and Zeal slept together? 

“Client-Whore privilege, Theo. You know that” Zeal laughed and Theo forced a chuckle out, uncomfortable with the word Zeal used to describe himself. 

“Sorry for interrupting. I was just checking and telling Ava we were due to leave soon,” Theo said. 

“We were just wrapping up. I’m ready,” Ava said, a cool tone.

“Perfect,” Theo told Ava then turned back to Zeal, “Is everything good here? Rules are being followed?” 

“There’s a new lady of the house but she’s good to us,” Zeal explained and Theo nodded.

“There’s a new girl. Black hair,” Theo mentioned, “What’s her name?” 

“Ames.” 

“Ames,” Theo repeated and reached into her coin purse, “Give her this and tell her it’s for the window.” 

Theo placed about ten gold coins on the table, next to the others that Ava had left earlier. 

“I’ll make sure she gets it,” Zeal promised, not questioning the captain on the window comment.

Theo thanked him and walked out of the room but Ava didn’t follow. Instead, she took the coin purse off of where it was secured on her waist and reached back inside. She took a handful of coins and put it in her pocket to keep for herself, her pants immediately sagging from the weight. She walked over to Zeal and handed him the rest of the coins and whispered something to him. It was then that Ava joined Theo outside. 

Theo wanted to ask questions the way Ava always did but she figured it wasn’t the time or the place. After having barged in on Ava and violated whatever privacy she had, Theo had a feeling that Ava wouldn’t be in the talking mood. Cooker joined the two women as they walked outside and quietly made their way to the inn the other crew had gone to rest in. Cooker split ways with them before arriving, claiming that she had other business to attend to and wouldn’t be joining them at the inn.

Ava and Theo walked in silence together until reaching the inn. Theo inquired with the innkeeper about any keys or rooms having been left in her name and Theo was handed one key in return. 

“Ma’am, I’m sorry to bother but we are going to need an extra room,” Theo said. 

“No room tonight. Your crew was only able to get a limited amount of rooms. That’s all they’ve left you,” the woman said, unhelpful. 

Theo turned to Ava who shrugged her shoulders. 

“I’m sure it will be fine,” Ava said.

“It’s settled then. Thank you for your help ma’am,” Theo led Ava up the stairs and into their modest little room. 

There was not much there. The room served its purpose, a place to sleep. A small chair in the corner of the room and a bed just big enough for two. 

“I’ll take the floor,” Theo said and grabbed a pillow from the bed.

“There’s no need. We can both sleep on the bed,” Ava offered and walked to one side of it and got in. 

“It’s alright,” Theo said, not wanting to make Ava uncomfortable, “The stiff floor is great for my back.”

Ava didn’t push the issue or laugh at Theo’s joke. Theo tossed the pillow on the ground and made herself as comfortable as she could after she stripped down to just a shirt and pants. She laid down on the rough ground and stared up at the ceiling. She could hear Ava breathing and the lack of a pattern to it told Theo she was still awake. 

“I’m sorry I acted the way I did before,” Theo said, “I should have let yourself explain what was going on and not jumped to conclusions.” 

“I’m not helpless. I know I don’t have the most up to date knowledge on the way things work but I can fend for myself. I can make my own choices,” Ava said, getting a little wound up. 

“Aye,” Theo said, “I am sorry.” 

Ava stayed quiet for a few beats before answering, “It’s alright… Thank you for being concerned for my safety.” 

“Why were you crying?” Theo asked. 

Ava considered opening up to Theo. Telling her about her recent discovery. If there was anyone that could answer the questions she had it was Theo. Still, it was all so new to her she would have rather kept her cards close to her chest, opting to brush it off rather than delve into that topic with Theo. 

“Nothing that hasn’t already been resolved,” Ava said. 

“That’s good, I guess,” Theo answered from the floor and twisted her rings, “Did you sleep with him?” 

The room went quiet. Neither of them was breathing. Theo kicked herself for having to ask it and the longer Ava went without answering the more she regretted it. Ava, on the other hand, did not expect Theo to ask. Why was she interested? Ava hoped maybe Theo was interested. That maybe the warmth Ava felt in her belly when she saw the Captain was reciprocated. Ava knew it was wrong but she hoped Theo would have been a little jealous. 

“No,” she answered truthfully, “Did you sleep with her?” 

“No,” Theo answered, “Not with Ames…” 

Ava had caught onto the subtext of Theo’s words, to Theo’s dismay, and pressed on, “Meaning you did sleep with someone.”

“I did,” Theo confessed, there was no point lying about it, “An old acquaintance, Viv.” 

“Oh.”

“Aye.” 

Ava did not know why she was hurt by that. Well, she did but she shouldn’t have been hurt. Theo was a big deal and Ava was not, at least not around those parts. Theo had her own life, interests, and relationships before she met Ava. On top of that, Theo hadn’t shown any interest in Ava so Ava could not feel slighted or played. Ava wanted to ask about the woman. Who was Viv? How long had Theo known her? She decided it was best to leave the subject, lest Theo start to wonder why Ava was taking an interest. 

“Have you had fun on Niveal?” Theo asked, hoping that the last portion of the evening had not ruined a good time. 

“Aye,” Ava replied, “It is better than any stories you hear about it.” 

“Will you be joining us tomorrow?” Theo asked. 

“I’m not that easy to get rid of,” Ava smiled to herself, “tonight was a mere introduction to how crazy I can get when I party.” 

Theo laughed from her spot on the floor, “Oh?”

“You hadn’t heard? They even published a book about it, ‘The Amazing Ava and Her More Than Adequate Adventures’.” Ava laughed. 

“That must be a new one. I haven’t heard of it. If I see it around, I’ll be sure to purchase it,” Theo chuckled. 

“No need. I’m sure you’ll get everything you need to know just by being around me,” Ava said. 

They were both grinning like idiots and staring at the ceiling. Theo kept fidgeting, unable to get comfortable, she cursed herself for giving up the bed so easily. It was quiet and Theo thought Ava was asleep. The captain tried several different positions but couldn’t find any that worked. After a bit of extra shuffling, a head peeked over the side of the bed.

“Cap,” Ava said quietly, eyes looking like they were going to succumb to sleep any second, “there is space for both of us up here.” 

Theo stared up at her roommate for a few seconds before getting up. There was no use fighting it, it was more logical. Plus, Ava had been the one to offer.

“Thank you,” Theo whispered. 

“Don’t mention it,” Ava whispered back, “Sweet dreams, Captain.”

\-------

Ava awoke the next morning with a strong arm wrapped around her waist. She was on her side and there was a warm body pressed up against her back. Ava felt soft puffs of breath hit the back of her neck and she was scared that if she moved the cozy feeling would go away. She slowly opened her eyes and looked around the room. 

Right, they were in an inn in Niveal. They were crashing to recover before their next night of partying. Ava remembered inviting Theo onto the bed last night but she did not remember getting this close to her. She would never admit it out loud but she was enjoying it quite a bit. There was a large grin that was on her face that she couldn’t shake. Theo’s even breaths almost drew her back into sleep but she resisted the urge. With no windows in the room, Ava could not even begin to tell what time it was but if Theo was still asleep. She needed it. 

Ava closed her eyes again and let herself relish her situation. When Theo woke up, it would probably be a bit awkward and Ava wanted to cherish the safe and warm feeling before it went away. Theo’s grip around her waist tightened and she was pulled closer back against the Captain as she shifted in her sleep. Ava felt butterflies burst in her stomach at the touch. Ava felt more of a reaction from being held innocently by Theo than she had in any experience with a boy. Where one had brought her only discomfort the other had the opposite effect. 

After what seemed like a half-hour, Theo began to stir. Instead of pushing Ava away, Theo instinctively pulled the figure closer in her sleep. She made a sleepy noise and pushed her head forward to bury it where Ava’s shoulder met her neck. Ava would be lying if she had said that it hadn’t made her melt, her hand went to the arm around her waist. After a few moments, Theo’s head jolted back and she slowly unwrapped her arm from around Ava’s side. 

“Sorry,” Theo muttered, still groggy from sleep. 

Ava, disappointed at the lack of contact but content she could move around, flipped to face Theo, “That’s alright. Sleep well?” 

“Mm,” Theo replied, eyes closing again. 

Ava laughed at the sleepy woman in front of her and Theo grunted at being laughed at. She looked her age when she was asleep. No ornate jewels or fancy clothes. She was just a girl, not a pirate captain and Ava couldn’t help but stare. Theo was still for so long that Ava thought she had fallen back asleep. 

“You just going to stare at me all morning?” Theo grumbled with her eyes still closed. Ava blushed and stammered out an apology to which Theo laughed. She opened one eye and smiled at Ava, “I’m joking. How did you sleep?” 

Theo’s voice was gruff and still ladled with sleep. The deepness to it made Ava’s stomach turn, not in a bad way. 

“I don’t remember anything between going to sleep and waking up,” Ava commented.

“Same here,” Theo said, “That’s what an aftermorning and night of nonstop substances gets you.”

“It’s probably not good for you,” Ava pointed out. 

Theo rubbed her eyes and then stretched out before saying, “It absolutely is not good for you.”

“We’d better get our unhealthy sun started then,” Ava sat up in bed and got out. There wasn’t much she needed to do to get ready except pull on her boots. She did that with relative ease and waited by the door as Theo slowly got ready for the coming aftermorning. Once Theo was ready, they went downstairs to find a significant portion of their party waiting. Even Cooker, who had not slept at the inn, was there. Oceane was the only one missing and Theo was tasked with going to get her. 

Once the whole group was together and they had filled their stomachs with the breakfast from the inn, they made their way back into the streets. The sun showed that they were approaching the third hour of the aftermorning and Ava wondered how many hours they had slept. Theo, like the sun before, took the lead. The events of the sun went much like the one before. Bar after bar, hotspot after hotspot. 

Ava made good on her promise to be even more adventurous the second time around. She tried every drink and every substance offered to her by her group. She danced every time there was music and was blacked out by the time night time came around. Ava couldn’t quite pick apart the sun and its events. Everything blended to form a mosaic of memories. Bits and pieces from the whole sun came together to give her a good idea of what happened but nothing concrete. 

Ava had a blast, though. She didn’t think she had ever had that much fun for so long with nothing to come crashing in to ruin it. All of the parties in her honor, in her father’s honor, for their family name, for different holidays and festivals, none of them came even close to the night she had. Only once, halfway through the night did she worry she might have gotten carried away. Ava had been careful the entire time since she had left home to not draw attention to herself. She kept her hair covered, her name a secret, and tried to blend in as much as possible. What if someone had seen her?

However, as quickly as the thought had come into her head she dismissed it. First of all, she was dead. To everyone’s knowledge, she had been pushed off a cliff. Second, her hair was short and covered her face. Ava looked more like a poor farmer’s boy than the daughter of a nobleman. Third, that far outside of Elox she doubted anyone even knew any of the Vaith’s children’s names, much less how they looked. Apart from being the youngest, Ava was a notorious rebel within her house and was often left out of family portraits and events. After a while of failing to attend those things, Vaith’s constituency began to forget who she was. She was regularly called a hermit by the people of Aubermausse and they jokingly referred to her as “the recluse.” 

When those sobering thoughts came to mind Ava made sure to drink them away. It wasn’t healthy but that was the point of that night. Besides the small blip in the night caused by her mind, Ava had lived the night to the fullest. For a while, she and Oceane had to be kept separate, or else they would hatch plans to run away or steal things from strangers. As the night came to an end, the one thing Ava clearly remembered was the journey back to the ship. As they left Grogon’s, where the bender had ended, Ava and Cooker kept tripping and stumbling over each other. They were too caught up in their laughter to pay any attention to where they were going. 

Every time they went to say something, a wheeze of laughter would come out instead. They stopped to breathe and laugh and breathe again four times in the short two minutes since they had left Grogon’s. One of their missteps proved to be their downfall. Cooker stumbled off the road, into the ditch and dragged Ava along with her. 

“Alright,” Theo said after the group had all finished laughing at them struggling to get out of the ditch, “Xy and Navi, it’s your time to shine.” 

Xyra groaned and walked over to the ditch, “I resent my height, my strength, and redheads.” 

Xyra went to help Ava out of the ditch and promptly bent down, picked her up, and threw her over her shoulders. Ava let out a squeal but did not protest after that. She decided she was better off being carried, it was more fun and she did not have to walk. She went limp over Xyra, arms swinging wildly as Xyra walked downhill. The rest of her body moved side to side in a ridiculous manner and it was making Xyra lose balance a little.

Cooker began laughing at Ava from her spot over Navi’s shoulders and it sparked laughter throughout the whole group. They had just sat in Grogon’s for an hour inhaling the mix of intoxicating smoke that was always in the room and seeing Ava fling about as Xyra was inconvenienced with deadweight was funny to their drug-addled brains. 

“Ava, please!” Theo managed to say in between laughing, “Please act normal. I am going to fucking piss myself.” 

Ava laughed, finally coming to life after giving an entertaining show. She looked up as best she could and made herself comfortable in Xyra’s grasp. 

“Xyra, this is very sweet of you,” Ava said, “I think you might not hate me after all” 

“I wouldn’t jump to such dramatic conclusions, Red. Hate is too mild a word for what I feel for you,” Xyra chuckled and Ava smacked her back in protest. 

Ava could tell there was a teasing tone in Xyra’s voice. Ava was right, the black-haired giant had less and less disdain for Ava every time they interacted. 

“I learn so much from you,” Ava mused, “like how to effortlessly act like there is not a log perpetually stuck in your ass.” 

Xyra stopped in her tracks and Ava worried she had taken it too far. The whole crew was silent too, eerily so. Then, Xyra laughed. Relief filled Ava as she felt Xyra’s laughter shake her. The crew started to laugh too, having been given the okay from Xyra. The chatter amongst them resumed and Ava began to calm down from her hectic night. They reached the ship and Ava was being taken up the stairs of the main deck and not down. 

“Where am I going?” Ava asked, “We’ve missed my home.”

Xyra walked into a hallway full of empty cabins and opened the door on one, “Setting you up in your own room for the night. Trust me this is better for the morning after than the lower decks.” 

Xyra laid Ava down on the bed and backed away. 

“Goodnight, I’ll see you tomorrow,” Ava pointed at Xyra, “For shopping!”

“For shopping,” Xyra pointed back at Ava with about a quarter of the enthusiasm. 

Ava laughed and clapped her hands congratulating herself on getting Xyra to play along. Xyra made her exit and shut the door. As Ava finally calmed down and settled down in the bed, she tuned in to her body; her body was not happy. Her stomach felt queasy and she knew tomorrow morning would be one of despair. However, the night had left her spent and despite the protests from her stomach she fell fast asleep.


	23. Jewels

Theo knocked on the door of the cabin Ava was sleeping in, trying to wake the sleeping redhead inside. Theo and Xyra had managed to wake up, get ready, and deal with a bit of ship business and yet Ava was still not up. They had decided they had let her sleep long enough and if they wanted to get everything on their list they needed to get a move on. There was no sign of movement on the other side of the door and Theo knocked again. 

“Ava,” Theo called out, “It’s Theo! Are you still coming down to shop with us?” 

She held her ear near the door to hear if Ava had begun to stir but again she was met with only silence. Xyra had probably given her the wrong room. Theo turned the handle and opened the door slowly to check. Inside the room was a sleeping figure, red curly hair peeking out from under the sheets. In the dark, Theo couldn’t see if Ava was even breathing. 

Theo popped her head in the room and called out again, “Ava, it’s Theo.” 

Finally, Theo saw movement. Ava shifted in the bed from one side to the other. Theo felt bad, Ava was probably still recovering from the night before. Being an experienced patron of Niveal’s bars, Theo was known to easily bounce back from a wild night out but Ava had yet to learn that trait. Theo considered letting her sleep it off but Theo knew she would never hear the end of it from Morgana if Ava didn’t get Morgana’s stuff. 

“Oi,” Theo said a bit louder, “Red, are you coming to the shops with us?” 

Ava suddenly popped her head up from under the covers. Her eyes were still shut and her face was scrunched, “Hm?”

Theo had to keep herself from laughing at the sight. It was quite adorable, “Are you coming to the shops with us? It’s almost the second hour of the aftermorning and we should get going.” 

“Mhm,” Ava said, “I’m going. I’m going.” 

Theo nodded and waited in the doorway to see if Ava would move. She didn’t. 

“Ava?” Theo asked.

“It may seem that I am falling back asleep but I’m not,” Ava weakly managed to put a full sentence, “I cannot open my eyes. They are sealed shut.” 

Theo let a small laugh escape, unable to stop it that time, “I’ll leave you to unseal your eyes and get ready. I think I have just the thing to get your sun started. Meet Xyra and me out on the deck when you’re ready.” 

Theo shut Ava’s door and Ava slumped back into bed. The bed was far superior to her hammock in the lower decks. She did not understand why those that could have a cabin sometimes opted to not have one. She opened her eyes and did her best to take a long deep breath without throwing up. After a few minutes, she was able to sit up and through lots of patience and groans, she managed to get ready for the day. She sat back down on the bed for a breather before stepping out of the room. Her stomach felt like it was going to empty its contents any second, her mouth was dry, her head was foggy and she did not understand how Theo was up and functioning. 

It was probably close to a half-hour before Ava was walking onto the main deck, squinting at the relentless sunlight. Theo was standing on the deck, back to Ava. The Captain’s hat placed soundly on her head, she wore a red silk shirt with black pants. It was toned down compared to what Theo had worn the previous two nights. She was speaking to Xyra who was looking down at a list, presumably everything they intended to buy. Xyra looked up from her paper and said something to Theo. 

Theo whipped around then smiled at the girl, “Good aftermorning. I’ve brought the cure to all your problems.”

Ava wanted to smile back but she was physically incapable of it. Her head was starting to pound and every noise she heard made her want to cry. In one of Theo’s hands was a mug and in the other was a pastry. 

Ava took them and stared down at the gifts, “Thank you. What is this?” 

“Hojiba tea and a hojiba pastry,” Theo smiled and held her hands behind her back, “Gives you energy, helps calm upset stomachs, and is the cure for practically all aftermorning illness symptoms.” 

Ava brought it up to her nose and sniffed the tea and then the pastry. They barely smelled of anything, she caught a dull whiff of a fruity aroma and that was it. She took a tentative nibble from the pastry but she stopped herself there. It would have tasted amazing if she had any appetite at all, which she did not. She took a sip of the tea, unsure of what to expect from the smell of it. It was delightful. Not too sweet but not too bitter. The aroma that spread through her senses was delightful. She took a large sip, trying to quench the dryness in her mouth.

“How did you sleep?” Xyra asked, also looking just as refreshed and alive as Theo. 

“Could have used about three more suns of it,” Ava commented in between sips of her tea. 

“I remember my first time in Niveal,” Theo said fondly. 

“Barely,” Xyra snorted.

“True. The very beginning and not a thing more,” Theo agreed. 

Ava cracked a smile for the first time that morning. The tea was starting to work and her stomach felt like it was settling down from the knots it had been in, “I just need to get Mor’s list and we can go.” 

“Picked it up from Morgana’s earlier. Money too,” Theo held up the list and the bag of money before handing it to Ava, “I have been given very specific instructions to make sure everything is delivered to my quarters and not Morgana’s.” 

“You can have things delivered to your ship?” Ava asked and braved a bite of her pastry. It was sweeter than the tea had been but just as delicious. 

Theo chuckled, “What else would we do? Carry our purchases around? With our hands?” 

Xyra laughed and shook her head, “Prepare for this pompous ass all day. Let’s go.” 

“I have a small fortune in my pocket that I am about to be spending. I will act like a pompous ass if I so please,” Theo said and began walking away. 

“People are starving and you’re going to buy more coats that you plan on throwing away after one or two uses,” Xyra admonished, “That money can go to them.” 

Theo stopped halfway down the plank to disembark and turned to Xyra, “Oi, any other time you can make me feel bad about it. Not here,” Theo waved her arms around, “Sanctuary.” 

Xyra sighed and conceded to Theo. Keeping her mouth shut about the gross misuse of funds. When Ava had said she saw Theo’s age while she was asleep, she also saw Theo’s age when it came to shopping. Ava couldn’t judge, she also had a small fortune at her side that she fully intended to spend. In all fairness, she had given almost a hundred gold to Zeal. That had to earn her some credit. 

Theo began to lead the way once again. This time, the trek was longer. They walked in the sun for a lot longer than they had before. The small hike proved worth it as Ava got to see everything she had been too drunk or high to see on the other nights. The city, for having no government or official overseer, was organized and clean. The buildings were all limited to two or three stories tall. She recognized many of the wooden structures they passed from her previous outings and she began to get a good feel for the layout of the island. 

They were on the south side of Niveal, which she learned housed the main city. There was a city center that contained a fresh market and five streets extending out from the city center. The street nicknamed Stumbler’s Row led straight down to the port of South Niveal. It was where they had spent their past two nights partying and drinking. Niveal, the main city that is, had each street designated to house a certain type of business. Bars, taverns, and brothels on one street, Stumbler’s Row. The shopping street which contained everything one could imagine for sale. From stolen goods and black market items to luxury fabrics and exotic foods. Next to that was a services street where one could find legal counsel or mercenaries; the options were endless. Ava had yet to find out what was on the other two streets. 

They passed the top of the street which rested on the top of a hill, passing the brothel they had been inside two nights before. As they left behind the last landmark Ava recognized, they entered into the city square. There were countless tents scattered throughout the square. There were fruits, vegetables, meats, animals, and handmade artisan goods being sold at the tents.

Ava thought they were bound to stop but they walked straight past every tent. Ava wanted to protest but her calls to Xyra were unheard over the ruckus of the market. This was shopping! Why weren’t they stopping? Ava thought it best to keep moving after her calls had been ignored. She felt like if there was any day Theo would reveal her true self and be scary it would be on shopping day; Ava had not heard great things. It was best to not get lost and aggravate anyone.  
She swerved around large groups and dodged people walking mindlessly about the streets. Once they got past the market area in the square it began to clear up. There were much fewer people on the street they had turned on and Ava began to see the lines of traffic being defined. The street was lined on either side with consecutive buildings all stuck together, there were not many alleys between buildings. Signs were dangling on chains from each storefront, advertising the kinds of goods they specialized in. 

Theo had slowed down her pace once they passed the crowds in the square and to one that was comfortable and laid back. Xyra flanked her right and Ava walked behind them. She pulled out the list Morgana gave her and began to scan it. Jewelry, clothes, weapons, spices, and a myriad of other things Ava could not understand. Ava hadn’t made her own list so she looked to Morgana’s for inspiration. Suddenly, her face was pressed up against something warm and her body thudded into Theo’s. 

Theo turned around and raised a brow at the girl, chuckling a bit, “All good?”

“Aye, I was distracted,” Ava admitted and held up the list, “sorry.”

“No need for apologies,” she nodded her head over to a shop on their right, “We’re heading in there first.”

Ava looked up at the sign. Precious Petal’s Perfumery. She looked down at her list and scanned it to see if there was anything Morgana needed from there. She didn’t see perfume on there but there was also a large chunk of words she did not know. She tapped Theo on the shoulder after they walked in and showed her the list. 

“Do they sell any of these here?” Ava asked and pointed to the group of words that were unfamiliar to her. 

Without looking at the paper Theo shrugged her shoulders, “I would consult Xyra on that.” 

Ava squinted her eyes at Theo as the captain walked away and towards a counter with a sales associate behind it. Theo hadn’t even bothered to look before brushing Ava off. Rude. Ava walked over to Xyra and asked her the same question. That proved to be the right move as Xyra helped let her know which thing on her list could be found at that shop. Ava didn’t understand, if she was going to have to ask Xyra anyway why didn’t Morgana have Xyra do her shopping? 

Ava read over the word over and over, hoping not to embarrass herself when she repeated the name to the worker. She walked over to the woman behind the counter, coming up to stand next to Theo. 

“Hello,” Ava said, slight nerves could be detected in her voice, “can I have two bottles of Yabvirin?” 

The lady fixed her with a blank stare. 

“Yebvrain,” Theo stepped in to help, the accent and pronunciation much better than Ava’s had been. 

Of course, that moment was when Theo thought it was time to aid Ava, not before. The woman understood what Theo had said and left. She brought back two large glass bottles and Ava leaned in to smell them. They were strong, not her favorite but this wasn’t hers so it wasn’t up to her. 

“How much?” Ava asked and pulled her purse out. 

“Delivery too?”

Ava nodded.

“One gold for the bottles, three silver for delivery,” the woman said and began to wrap up the bottles. 

“She’s with me,” Theo said, “no delivery fee.” 

“Of course, Captain,” the salesperson said with a smile.

Ava felt special. Exclusive. Badass. She got special treatment because Theo had commanded it. Ava got to reap the benefits of Theo’s station. A bit of a shit deal for Theo, she had to do all the work, but Ava was more than happy to partake. Ava paid the one gold, finding it expensive for two perfumes but she had a feeling nothing was going to be cheap in Niveal. 

“Were those for you?” Theo asked as the woman was turned around. 

“For Mor,” Ava held up the list. 

“Are you getting anything?”

“Probably not. I’m not a fan of perfume,” Ava admitted. The day she ran away was the day she vowed to never allow herself to be doused in perfumes ever again. They were so strong and always gave her headaches. She couldn’t justify spending money on a liquid that smelled good.

“Suit yourself,” Theo shrugged, “this is one of the best perfume shops in all of Baethos.” 

The woman came back and handed Ava a paper. She took it and read it over. It was just a receipt of what she had bought and how much it cost. Ava would keep these and give them to Morgana later to prove she didn’t skim any money off the top. Theo placed a rather large order and put 9 gold on the counter. Ava did not understand how Theo justified spending that much. 

Before leaving the shop, Xyra also had to place her order. Once the three of them were satisfied with their time there they moved onto the next shop. Another perfumery. This time Ava didn’t need to ask anyone, Xyra let Ava know that nothing on her list was going to be in the new shop. Ava ogled the pretty glasses the perfumes came in as Theo bought an unknown amount of perfume. Next, Xyra pushed them to go shop for jewelry and accessories. Ava was excited about this one.

As a noble, Ava never wanted for much but Aubermasse and the places she frequently traveled did not have a wide selection of jewels. When jewels were gifted to the Vaith family, they rarely ever made their way into her possession. It was a minuscule thing to complain about and it wasn’t that she was complaining, per se. She was just excited to have the opportunity to buy and own whatever she wanted. 

The shop they walked into was massive. She had expected it to be a small intimate store like the last two had been. It had two stories and an open layout with jewels displayed everywhere. The first floor housed different cases of accessories and collectible pieces. Necklaces, hairpins, brooches, glass pieces with jewels affixed to them. There were different arrays of shapes, sizes, and colors. If she were to ever plan a heist, this would be her target. She could see into the second floor, it was more of a balcony that lined the sides of the room and there were wooden mannequins that were adorned with different elaborate jewelry pieces. 

Ava heard a laugh and she snapped out of her daze. It was Theo who was stood in front of her with a stupid grin on her face. 

“Your mouth was wide open,” Theo said and laughed again, “Wait until you see what’s next. Shall we?” 

Theo held out her arm for Ava, who took it. Theo walked them to the back of the store and opened a door. They went down the wide hallway until they came upon a wall and a bell that was in front of it, sitting on a small oddly placed table. Theo rang the bell and a small hole in the wall in front of them opened up and Ava was startled, she even gasped a little. The hole shut just as quickly and a piece of the wall moved. It created a small opening and Theo let go of Ava’s arm and walked inside. Ava looked back at Xyra, a bewildered expression on her face. This was not normal, as she expected just to follow with no explanation?

“No time for questions,” Xyra whispered and nudged Ava forward. 

Ava ducked down to fit through the small entrance. It was dark for the first few steps she took but then the small entrance gave way to a larger, dimly lit hallway. She felt Xyra come up behind her, she felt cramped and in need of some space. Theo walked forward, leading the way down the hallway until they came to a stop at a door. She knocked and another small hole opened and closed. The door was opened for them after a few seconds and Ava followed Theo in. The door opened into a well-lit room, a large table was in the middle with comfortable, velvet chairs around it. There were wooden cabinets from wall to ceiling all around the room. Each of them took a seat and Ava then noticed the small man with white shaggy hair standing on one side of the table. 

“Captain Theo. It has been a while,” the man said with a curt nod. 

“Cu,” Theo said and crossed an ankle over her knee, “I’ve done a few stints in the east and the south. Ports around here aren’t very friendly I’m afraid so I’ve had to keep my distance. You have things for me?” 

“Ah yes, we’ll start with the rings,” Cu held a finger up and then quickly turned and opened a cabinet. He pulled out a tray with an assortment of different rings on them, “I’ve had these set aside for you for quite some time, I thought you might like these.” 

Cu placed the tray on the table and slid it towards Theo. Theo uncrossed her legs and leaned forward to inspect the items of the tray. Ava’s mouth ever so slightly opened at the sight of them. There were large rings, small rings, rings that looked to stop at the middle of the finger, rings with one large jewel, rings with multiple small ones embedded throughout. Theo and Xyra did not react in the same way though, serious faces looking intently at the selection. After a few moments of deliberation, Theo assumed her previous laid back position. 

“Cu, to be completely frank, you assuming that I might like these is the biggest insult I could receive,” Theo said and Ava’s head snapped in Theo’s direction. Ava had never heard Theo be that rude.

Ava looked at the selection in front of them again, trying to see what was so wrong about the rings? 

Cu muttered his apologies and put the tray back in the cabinet, fishing for another one. He pulled out another and brought it over. Theo once again leaned forward and nodded her head approvingly. Ava saw no significant difference in the two trays. The new ones seemed to hold bigger jewels but besides that, Ava was at a loss. 

“Cu,” Theo laughed a little and grabbed a large ring with a blue jewel in the middle, “shit why didn’t you bring this out in the first place?” 

Theo slid the ring over her index finger and looked at her hand. She took it off then tried another. Xyra made no move to try any of the rings on and stayed silent, Ava followed her lead. Theo went through each of the rings, trying them on silently. Her expression never revealed if she was impressed or not. Her presence in the small room seemed large and intimidating. If Ava did not know Theo, she would have been scared shitless of her. 

Theo slumped back in her chair, “Okay.” 

“Okay?” Cu asked.

“I’ll take it,” Theo said. 

“Which one?” Cu said and looked at the tray to figure out which Theo was talking about. 

“All of them,” Theo said and Xyra reacted for the first time since they had arrived in the room. 

“Theo, no,” she harshly whispered to her friend. 

Theo waved her hand dismissively towards Xyra, “I’ll see the earring and necklaces now.” 

“I will need to go to the back room to retrieve those items,” Cu said and bowed slightly before excusing himself. 

AVa was at a loss, was that not the back room? There were more backrooms? Cu walked to a wall and knocked on it. The same process of a hole opening, closing, then an entrance popping open was repeated and Cu slipped out of the room. If there were jewels in the main store, and jewels back here, she could only imagine the value of the things kept in the back.

“You’re not buying all of those, Theo,” Xyra pushed again.

“Xyra, last time. Back off,” Theo looked over at her first mate.

Xyra rolled her eyes and kept her mouth shut. Ava wanted to take the time when Cu was out of the room to ask questions but she wasn’t sure if she could. Xyra had said specifically no questions and Ava wasn’t sure if meant at that moment or the whole time. Either way, Theo and Xyra seemed to be having a tiff between them and Ava did not want to step into that.

After minutes of silence, Cu returned from the same place he left from. He was carrying a large, wide wooden box. Setting it down on the table, he opened the lid to reveal a small black tray filled with necklaces, the top of the box was fitted with a mirror. Not all of the necklaces in the box had jewels and the ones that did were simple and small, unlike the monstrous rocks on the rings.

Theo looked through the necklaces. Carefully picking up the ones she found interesting. She did not complain about these, Cu must have stepped it up. The necklaces that were in the case were beautiful, understated, and all that Ava wanted. There was a silver chain with a small red ruby in the middle, she hoped she had a chance to see if she was allowed to buy it. She still wasn’t sure if she was allowed to ask to purchase anything from Cu or would she not be afforded that luxury. Ava hadn’t even pulled out Morgana's list to see if she wanted anything. 

Instead of choosing all of them, like with the rings, Theo picked out two. A simple gold chain and a silver chain with a black pearl attached, the claw of a metal dragon clutching it. Theo leaned back and motioned for Cu to show her the rest. He removed the top layer of the box and exposed the second, all earrings and ear adornments.

Theo showed a little more excitement for these than she had for the necklaces, a grin on her face. She looked through them and held them up to her ear, checking how it looked in the mirror. Ava watched Theo switch between two colors, undecided. Theo picked various ones and set them aside. She leaned forward in her chair and peered over at Ava.

“You’ve got Mor’s list?” Theo asked and Ava quickly fished it out and held it out, “Morgana couldn’t be here today. She’s sent a list. Can you see if there is anything you can help us with?” 

Cu took the paper and raised the glasses hanging from his shirt to be able to see. He nodded and handed the list back, “Certainly.”

Cu made his way to the secret entrance Theo and the group had entered from and made his exit. Theo pushed the trays laid out on the table closer to Xyra and Ava. 

“Anything catch your eye?” Theo asked. Xyra shook her head, “Ava?”

“Me?” Ava looked over at the Captain.

“Aye,” Theo chuckled, “you okay? You’ve been very quiet.”

“I figured it best to not ask any questions,” Ava explained, not trying to throw Xyra under the bus. 

“You must have a hundred of them,” Theo teased. 

“A thousand,” Ava cracked a smile, “I’m allowed to buy from this stash?” 

“When you shop with me you're allowed to do anything you want. Did something look good to you?” Theo asked. 

Ava nodded and pointed to the necklace she had liked earlier. 

Xyra snorted a little, “The rich girl goes for the cheapest of all and you still can’t manage to show restraint.” 

Theo elbowed Xyra in the closest spot she could reach, which was Xyra’s arm and Xyra yelped a little. She rubbed her arm and scooted her chair out of Theo’s reach. Ava ignored the comment, now used to being called that by the crew. If that was the worst thing about the ship then she considered herself lucky. Theo took out the necklace Ava wanted and set it aside with her things. 

“This’ll be around 13 gold if you buy it by yourself. I’m going to buy it with my stuff which means I can get it for you for around 7,” Theo said and Ava thanked her. 

There was nothing else she was interested in at the moment, jewel wise. She would probably encounter many other fascinating items in Niveal and on the rest of her journey and she wasn’t sure when she would come into another large sum of money. Ava had a feeling that the recent large 500 gold coin share the pirates got from the Delraid treasure was not the norm. It was wiser for her to save her money, unsure if they would ever reap such a reward again. Theo did not share that concern. 

Cu came back with the items Morgana had listed in a small wooden box. She opened it and showed the girls and they all nodded their approval. It wasn’t like any of them knew what the list said or what Morgana had asked for, Ava not understanding it, and the other two simply not double-checking. She hoped it was right. 

“That would be 27 gold for Morgana’s items,” Cu said and Ava fished out the proper amount of money and handed it over, “and 130 gold for all of your items, Captain Theo.”

Theo laughed a little and then shook her head, “No deal, Curator. That is a fucking ridiculous asking price and you know it.” 

“Theo, you’ve got nine rings, three necklaces, and six different types of earrings. I’m practically giving this to you under acquisition price. The math comes out to giving this to you for around 8 gold apiece,” Cu reasoned and Ava saw Xyra take a deep patient breath in. 

“Curator, the reason I do business with you, the owner, is because you don’t have to jump through hoops or get any permission to give me your best prices. I will pay 100 for all of it,” Theo countered. 

“120,” Cu countered. 

“115, Mor’s shit included or I walk,” Theo threatened. 

Cu reached out a hand to Theo, agreeing on 115 gold for the various luxury items in front of her. Theo shook Cu’s hand and stood up and they walked off together, through the secret entrance to the backroom. Ava would have loved to be in the loop for literally anything that had happened for the past 30 minutes. More often than not, things with Theo had been do first, ask questions after. 

“Where is she going?” Ava asked, allowing herself one question.

“To the backroom to weigh out the gold. Businesses here usually confirm the validity of the coin by weighing it for purchases over 50 gold,” Xyra explained, seeming to not mind the question. 

“How much is all of that worth?” Ava tried her luck with another question. 

Xyra groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose, “200 gold. She does this every fucking time. I’m protesting next time. I refuse to come with her.” 

Ava had to hold in a laugh. Theo seemed a bit rude and very entitled but knowing that she wasn’t ever like that made it funny to Ava, not annoying. She saw why they called Theo a nightmare but didn’t think it was all that bad. 

“She isn’t too bad,” Ava confessed and Xyra fixed her with an unimpressed glare. 

“If it’s shopping day she’ll haggle for the meat stick man to sell it to her for one copper instead of two. It’s not like 20 gold would have made a difference to her, realistically. She’s got fucking 400 gold on her belt. She just does it because she can,” Xyra tried to get Ava on her side. 

She shrugged her shoulders, “If that is how she is one day out of every 2 or 3 hundred than I think she’s allowed to be a diva now and then.” 

Xyra sighed at the defense of the captain, “Listen, I get what you’re saying. Theo does a lot and gives a lot and she deserves to act like this every once in a while but it’s exhausting having to sit here and get second-hand embarrassment for a full sun. Next time, I’m skipping out.” 

Ava let her laugh out this time. Xyra was just a little dramatic but Ava was sure that after countless years of dealing with it, she would have acted the same. Xyra flipped her the bird and Ava stuck out her tongue. Xyra rolled her eyes with a small smile and turned her attention away from Ava. Every time they had time alone, Ava felt Xyra getting more comfortable with her. Ava’s strategy of being persistent and talkative had proven effective against the ever-stoic first mate. 

Theo returned with Cu and despite being haggled out of about 90 gold worth of jewels, he seemed to be happy and chipper speaking with Theo. They spoke animatedly about something Ava could not catch the context of and then they sat down. Cu handed Ava and Theo a paper, a handwritten receipt of purchase as well as a paper that was a confirmation of delivery. Ava did not expect this type of professionalism from Niveal, the lawless island. She folded the papers and put them in her pocket along with her other one. Theo said her goodbyes and they all stood up, Theo leading the way out.


	24. Chapter 24

Theo was laid back during shoe shopping, only buying two pairs and taking the low price the vendor offered. The vendor she bought them from was a woman and Ava had a sneaking suspicion that Theo, notorious man fighter and skeptic, gave men a harder time when bargaining. Ava, as opposed to Theo, indulged in shoe shopping. She walked away having had 11 pairs of shoes delivered to the ship. Shoes proved to be Ava’s forte and she needed no help spotting what shoes Morgana wanted. Whether the word was in common or not, Ava knew the name. All in all, she had spent 9 gold for herself and 7 for Morgana. 

Clothes shopping was a large chunk of their day. All three of them spent hours perusing the dozens of stores that were around. Shirt stores, pants stores, dress stores, coat stores, stores with all of them in them, stores that only sold one color. Ava had always been stuck wearing traditional Northern Eloxian robes and garments and when she was allowed to buy her own clothes, she was strictly limited to dresses from two stores in town. She now had unlimited options and all the money in the world to spend. 

By the time they had finished at the last store, the three of them had established a pattern. They would walk into a store and first, Xyra would let Ava know if Morgana needed anything from that store. If she did, Ava would ask the clerk for the items that were needed, pay, get the receipt, and then begin her own shopping. Ava would get lost in the clothes, grabbing too many to try on. She would pay for the clothes and hand them in to be handled for delivery. Xyra was less restrained with clothes than she was with other goods. Xyra was just as bad as Ava was, turning armfuls of clothes over to be delivered. There was a significant dent in both of their coin purses by the time they had finished all of their clothes shopping. A 139 gold coin dent. 

So much for saving. 

Ava couldn’t help herself when it came to the sheer amount of gorgeous one of kind pieces sold in the shops of Niveal. Neither could Xyra. Theo, during this whole process, had been lost. When they would enter a store, Theo would get quite the royal treatment from the store employees or owners. She was always taken to the back where there was a rack of clothes specially picked for her just waiting there. Ava was already planning on seeing if she could read up on Theo but the reception Theo received from everyone just made her more interesting. 

The final step in their established pattern was a fight. After Xyra and Ava had both finished and were waiting around a while, Xyra would march them to wherever Theo had been taken to hurry her up. It never failed. In every store they went to, Xyra had to drag Theo out of it to stop her from wasting the whole sun there. Ava found it funny, the little squabbles between them as they would walk out of stores. Here, people seemed to kiss the ground Theo walked on but Xyra refused to treat her any differently, they acted like the way siblings acted. Not that Ava’s ever paid her that much attention. 

By the time they finished clothes shopping, the sun was beginning to lower and they were starving. After some traditional street meat, they continued to shop. There wasn’t much left on the list and Ava was glad, she did not know how much more her pockets could take. Xyra decided to take a break from shopping when she encountered someone she needed to talk to on the street. Ava and Theo took on the next few shops by themselves. First, a shop that sold hundreds of different materials that could be used to make medicinal remedies. Second, they shopped at a store that sold paper, journals, canvases, and ink pens. Then they visited a paint shop. Lastly, they visited a store that sold spices and rare ingredients. 

Her time alone with Theo had proved to be interesting. She was less obnoxious, loud, and proud as she had been for most of the sun. Mostly because she did not need to buy anything and was just accompanying Ava to do what was on Morgana’s list. When Ava asked for Theo’s help in the first three shops, she proved to be of no use. Theo had said there was no point in showing her the list because she didn’t know what was in the shops. Ava doubted that. If what she had was Morgana’s usual list and Mor usually went shopping with Theo then Theo would have been to those shops dozens of times. She could have just peeked at the list to help. Instead, Ava had to show the list to the salesperson and ask for their help. 

By the time they left the third shop, Ava had ended up getting frustrated with Theo. Now Ava regretted the laughter she had directed at Xyra earlier in the sun. Theo was being unhelpful when she could have made everything easier. It was so out of character for the captain. Ava had only spent a few cycles with her but Ava knew that Theo was kind and helpful. She always went out of her way to answer Ava’s questions and comfort her. Theo didn’t always have the answers but she loved to help. That is why her attitude made no sense. Ava understood Theo’s need to be spoiled and unhelpful for a day but her behavior was out of sorts. 

At the last shop, something shifted. Before they went in, Theo asked to see the list. She scanned it and kept it. 

“Alright, I’ve got this,” Theo offered with a smile and opened the door for Ava. 

They walked in and approached the counter, Theo taking the lead with the conversation. The shop clerk and she engaged in familiar conversation for a while, as Theo had done at the previous shops before she got to business. Theo introduced Ava as a new pirate on her ship and Ava greeted the woman. Theo explained that Ava had been doing Morgana’s shopping and needed some things. Theo looked at the list and read off several different ingredients and the shop clerk went to retrieve them. 

The woman was attempting to carry too many things at once and was struggling to get back to the counter. She called out something in a language Ava didn’t understand and Theo smoothly sprinted into action, hopping over the counter and helping the woman with the goods. Theo spoke with the woman in a different language as they carried the things back to the counter. Once it was set down, Theo took the long way around back to where Ava was. The shopkeeper and Ava finished the transaction and they promptly made their way out. Despite the help Theo had provided, the frustration with her was still there.

The more Ava thought about it, the more she began to think there was more to the situation than what she was seeing. She would have to figure it out. As they left the last shop, Xyra rejoined them. 

“Ready for weapons?” Xyra asked. 

“How convenient that you miss the four most boring shops and leave me to it just to come in time for weapons shopping,” Theo theorized, “I’m accusing you of not even having an old acquaintance you needed to catch up with.” 

“I plead guilty,” Xyra laughed, “You made it too easy. Everyone you know, I know. I don’t know why you wouldn’t have asked who I was meeting with. You didn’t call my bluff and that is on you.” 

“Shopping day has got me distracted. I cannot believe I let that happen,” Theo mumbled and Ava laughed. It served Theo right after being spoiled all day, Xyra deserved a break. 

“No point in dwelling on your failures,” Xyra shrugged, “we’ve got weapons to buy.” 

Ava was buzzing from the excitement. A weapons shop. When they entered the shop it was just as Ava had pictured. Weapons lined all four walls, mounted by weapon type. There were different kinds of accessories that were displayed on the shop floor. Sheaths, armor, training equipment, leather to customize weapon handles. She was one thousand percent going to walk out of that shop with all of the weapons she saw. Upon walking in, Theo made a beeline to two people sitting standing behind a counter. 

“My favorite couple!” Theo exclaimed, “Well, my favorite koldi couple. I hope you don’t mind the few nox couples I hold to a higher degree than you both.” 

There were a man and a woman behind the counter in the traditional Dove Island robes she had learned about while shopping. The man, tall with dark features and dark hair, stopped his conversation with the woman and turned around. 

“The one and only Captain Theo,” the man had a deep voice and an even deeper laugh.

They hugged and Theo patted his back. 

“Lanvin,” Theo said, stepping back, keeping her hand on his shoulder, “mate, you look good. How have you been doing?” 

“Good, good” Lanvin responded with a smile. 

“Am I invisible?” the woman that had been next to Lanvin asked. 

“Of course not, Yera,” Theo turned to her and pulled her into a long hug. The woman hugged Theo back and rubbed the captain’s back. 

“I know I’m never as dramatic as her with my entrance but that doesn’t mean I don’t deserve the same welcome,” Xyra teased and walked over. She hugged both of them and then Theo motioned Ava over. 

“This is Red,” Theo introduced, “She’s a new trainee on our ship, filling in for Mor today.” 

“Is Morgana okay?” Yera asked, concerned. 

“Aye, now she is. She got injured and Tuni wanted to make sure she was fully recovered before walking about.” 

“Well, I’m sorry for having to meet you under these circumstances but it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Red,” Yera extended her hand and shook Ava’s. 

“Hate to get right down to business but do you have it?” Theo asked, excitedly. She even tried to peek over the counter to see if she saw anything. 

“We have it,” Lanvin laughed and pushed at Theo’s shoulders so she would stop leaning over the counter, “we close in an hour. How about you shop and once we close we’ll talk.” 

“Good call,” Theo said, “Alright. We’ll look around.” 

Before Theo turned to go shop her heart out Xyra stopped her, “Remember our rules.”

“We only buy what we can’t get at the armory,” they both repeated at the same time and Ava laughed at the pair. 

Ava walked up to Yera and showed her the list, “So, I’m new to the whole violence and weapons thing. I’m not too sure what she needs. Can you take a look at the list?” 

Yera took the list and then handed it back, “I’ll be right back with those items.”   
Yera brought two different weapons back and laid them in front of Ava. Seeing them, Theo walked over. Yera pointed to the one on the left. 

“This one is a mace,” she explained to Ava then pointed to the right, “and this one is a flail.” 

Yera then jumped into the description of each of the weapons. Ava was thankful for the explanation, Yera didn’t have to. Ava picked up the flail, which was a spiked ball on a chain dangling from a wooden handle. Theo grabbed the mace and slowly executed different combat moves. 

“She can’t buy a sword if it fucking killed her,” Theo commented with a laugh and put the mace down. 

“Can you blame her?” Ava held the flail and stared at it in awe. It was an amazing piece of equipment. She would have loved one too. Morgana didn’t have to have all the fun. 

“I want one,” Ava said and put it on the counter. 

“Fuck no,” Theo said. 

“That’s not fair,” Ava immediately protested, “I deserve a weapon. I am becoming a pirate now.” 

“Aye, you deserve a good weapon. Swords, not these monstrosities. Offensively they are good but they’re shit on defense,” Theo said and took Ava’s hand and led her over to a section of the store with swords lining the wall. 

“For you, I’d say a relatively lightweight blade would work best. What Morgana uses is heavy and mostly good against armor. She has a lot of force behind her hits so she can get away with using it in nonarmored fights. You and me? Not so much,” Theo explained. 

It made sense. Ava was skinny and there were not many muscles on her. Her dagger was already a little too heavy for her liking.

“What makes the swords any different for defense?” Ava asked and looked at the wall, eyes visually sorting through the different kinds of them.

“Swords aren’t top heavy like blunt force weapons. Plus, you usually have a larger area to block hits with when it comes to having a sword and you’ve got handguards,” Theo replied. She pulled aside the collar of her shirt, exposing a scar under her collarbone, “got that while fighting with a mace.”

Ava saw the large scar and wondered how many more of them she had around her body. She stared at it until Theo covered it back up. Scars were cool to Ava, but the pain that preceded them was not something she wanted to deal with. A sword would have to replace the flail she wanted so badly. In front of her, there were so many options it was intimidating. Curved, short, long, heavy, light, double-edged, handguards, no handguards, there must have been a dozen different types of swords. She was so very interested in getting to know facts about every weapon, their advantages, disadvantages, how they were used, their best way to attack and defend. There were dozens of kinds of weapons littered around the store though and there was no way they could even get through a fraction of them. 

“What do you recommend then?” Ava asked. 

Theo’s eyes glinted excitedly like she had been waiting for Ava to ask. She walked up to the wall and grabbed one of the swords. 

“Are you allowed to do that?” Ava asked and Theo laughed. 

“You still haven’t learned, have you? I am Captain Theo,” Theo put it plainly with a cheeky smile, “This one is the Greatsword. Give it a try.” 

Ava took the blade and practically dropped it on the spot. She managed to get a good grip on it but her wrist threatened to break clean off her hand. She handed it back without even trying it out. Theo laughed and put it back. 

“That one was a joke,” Theo was so proud of herself for her prank. She grabbed another sword off the wall and walked it over. This one was straight on one edge with a slight upturn toward the point. The second side was curved, almost like it had a belly, “Try this one. It’s a falchion.”

Ava grabbed it, the sword was much lighter and easier to hold. She felt badass with it in her hand. She had a desperate urge to slash and swing the sword about but refrained, given that they were indoors. She did hold it up though, to test the weight. It was nice, it looked nice too. 

“It’s interesting,” Ava said, “Why is it curved?” 

“It’s a slashing sword,” Theo answered, “all the other curved ones up there are too.” 

“Doesn’t that put you at a disadvantage with armored combatants though?” Ava asked, surprising even herself with the question. She had just remembered a conversation her father had with another councilman when she was younger. They were arguing over what to equip a new Baethean unit with. She did not remember the swords they were arguing over but she remembers her father arguing against the slashing sword for those reasons. 

“Aye,” Theo was impressed, “but we don’t typically fight armored combatants so most of us use curved swords.” 

“I see,” Ava said. The curved swords did stand out to her more than the straight ones did. She handed the sword back and pointed to another one, “Which one is that?” 

“Scimitar, like the falchion but not as good in my opinion,” Theo said, “the one next to it is the sabre, then the dao, and after that one is the cutlass.” 

“What do people on the vanguard usually fight with?” Ava asked.

“Whatever their weapon of choice is,” Theo explained. 

“What would be best for me if I wanted to join it?” Ava asked, hoping that it would let Theo know that she was interested in joining. 

Theo crossed her arms and lifted one brow at Ava, “I’m going to nip this vanguard talk in the bud. Let’s get you instated as a pirate, trained in a position on the ship, have you get settled in, take the oath, and then we can begin to talk about a future in which you can begin training for the vanguard.”

Ava was frustrated at Theo’s answer. Morgana, the very leader of the vanguard, had been dropping hints of encouragement for Ava to start thinking about it. How could she think about it when the captain of the ship was dismissive every time it was brought up? Ava had figured it wouldn't have been easy to get on the vanguard but she hadn't imagined that she would be rejected outright. Theo didn’t even guarantee or confirm she could train when she got voted in as a pirate, she simply said it was a conversation they would have. 

“Which one would be best for me right now then?” Ava gave up her push for the vanguard. 

“For your first sword, the cutlass,” Theo said and grabbed it, “Your typical pirate and merchant weapon. Easy to use and easy to be trained in. A good way to step into the bigger ones that are harder to handle.” 

Ava took it from Theo. It was lighter as she held it in her hand and holding it made her feel like a pirate. She imagined herself in a nighttime raid, darkness, and chaos all around her, her weapon coming down on a fighter. She carefully moved it through the air in a slow downward slash. Theo chuckled and took a step back. 

“I like the type of sword,” Ava said, “but this one seems a bit…”

“Plain?” Theo finished for her, “Lacking embellishments?”

“Aye,” Ava confirmed, “just feel like it’s Niveal and this is my first sword so why not go a little fancier.” 

“You don’t have to convince me. I’m always ready to spend money on unnecessary upgrades,” Theo hopped on the wagon, “Anything on the wall catch your eye?” 

Ava took her time looking through all of the options until she found the one she liked. The one she had was a simple silver all around, handle and handguard too. The handle was wrapped with plain brown leather, it was nice but she wanted the perfect first sword. It was a milestone purchase and she was going to make it worthwhile. The last one in the row of cutlasses was the one she liked most. It was a silver blade with a solid black handle and handguard, the handle had a thin layer of black leather wrapped around it. The way the creator worked the blade left it with several black streaks crackling up the side. It looked like lightning had struck the handle and it was spreading up the blade. Ava didn’t see any other blade like it throughout the entire display. Ava walked up to it and grabbed it. 

Theo whistled, “That’s going to cost a small fortune.” 

Ava smiled, “Good thing I have one then.” 

“It’s not you that is going to be buying it,” Theo said matter-of-factly. 

“What do you mean?” Ava asked, confused at what Theo was getting at. 

“Scorned Woman pirates never buy their first weapons,” Theo said, “We wrote it into the rules of the ship.” 

“This isn’t my first weapon. I have a dagger and that was also gifted to me,” Ava argued. It wasn’t that she didn’t want Theo to buy it for her, it was that she felt guilty for taking something she didn’t deserve. 

“You were not in the ship’s service when you were given that dagger. This is your first weapon as a pirate,” Theo countered, “Let me get you this and you can use the money you saved to buy a nice belt to hold it.” 

Ava wanted to protest but Theo was already taking the sword from her hand and walking to Lanvin with it. Ava sighed and walked over to where she saw some accessories she liked. She wasn’t mad or annoyed at Theo, it felt kind of nice. When she first began to hang around Theo, she just figured that she was treated the same as every other member of the ship. In certain terms, she was. Theo was genuine, funny, and sweet with her whole crew. She made herself available to everyone as well, always making it a point to make time for her girls. However, no one else but Theo’s close friends had so much uninterrupted free time with the captain. Where she once would have convinced herself that Theo was friendly and close to her whole crew, she now let herself relish in the fact that she had formed a bond with the captain. Further than that, she had started to form her own little network of friends, something she had always lacked. 

She was so lost in her train of thought she almost missed her name being called. She looked around the shop and saw Xyra to her left. 

“You’ve been staring at that belt for a few minutes now. It's not even 3 copper, have you run out of money?” Xyra asked. 

“What? No,” Ava laughed, “I was distracted.” 

Ava noticed the three weapons she was carrying in her hands, one of her large hands wrapped around two long sticks, each one with a different blade attached to the end. Her other hand held the Greatsword Ava could not pick up. Xyra seemed to hold the items with ease. 

“Have you stuck to the rules?” Ava asked, three seemed like a lot. 

“No,” Xyra confessed, “technically, yes. Realistically, no.”

“That was very honest of you,” Ava pointed out. 

Xyra laughed, “If you tell Theo I’ve broken the rules, I’ll just deny it.” 

“My mouth is shut,” Ava said. 

“Very well. I reward people who aren’t rats. I’ll buy you that belt,” Xyra chuckled. Ava took the belt and draped it around Xyra’s shoulder. 

While Xyra was paying for her items, Yera began to close the shop. There were no patrons besides them left so there was no one to kick out. Yera pulled the curtains closed and locked the door. Ava could only imagine what rare one of a kind weapon Theo had been excited to get her hands on. Lanvin pulled out a large wooden case, polished and with a gold latch holding it closed. He popped it open and revealed what was inside. 

A large curved sword was sitting inside. Oddly enough, it had a hole carved into it near the tip. It looked menacing and way too much for Ava to handle. The hilt of the handle had a jewel set into the gold there, a blood-red jewel. The rest of the handle was black and the two metal protrusions that acted as a handguard were dipped in gold with red jewels lining it. Theo’s mouth went slack and she took in a deep breath.

“When you wrote me and told me you had gotten it I wasn’t sure I believed you,” Theo said, amazed. It was the first time Ava had seen her act this way during their time shopping, impressed, and in awe. She made no move to grab the weapon like she would have normally done with any other item. 

“We couldn’t believe we had it for a while,” Yera said, coming up behind the counter. 

“As soon as we got word, it’s all she talked about for so long. It never stopped. I promised if she made it to Niveal without another word about it I would take sailing duties for 10 suns,” Xyra groaned, “I never thought it would happen.” 

“I never back down from a challenge,” Theo said and then bent down further to examine it up close, “How the fuck did you find it?” 

“Before we go on,” Ava interrupted and then flushed red when everyone quieted and turned to her. She hadn’t been expecting that, “What is it?” 

They all stared at Ava. They had confused looks on their faces as if they were surprised she didn’t know what the sword was on sight. 

“This is the Bloodletter,” Xyra filled Ava in, searching for an ounce of recognition, “belonged to Ironhand.”

Ava shook her head. 

“The greatest captain of all time,” Theo tried, “Commanded the first successful pirate crew. Established Corinspe 200 lengths ago?” 

Ava shrugged her shoulder and put her hands up as an apology for not knowing. 

“Really? Nothing?” Xyra asked. 

“Nothing,” Ava confessed. 

“Where did you find her?” Lanvin laughed a little.

“She had recently emerged from a cave when we picked her up,” Theo nudged Ava to let her know she was kidding. 

“This sword has been the object of your captain’s obsession for close to half of a classification,” Yera finally provided the context of their current situation. 

Ava understood now. The large sword with gems on it was a huge deal to everyone but her. Once again, Ava was not only out of the loop but so far from it that the journey into the loop would have taken two lengths on foot. She would either have to act like she was in on it or come up with a good reason as to why she is in the dark about so much.

“How much is it worth?” Ava asked. 

“Priceless,” Theo said and for the first time, picked up the sword. She gripped it firmly in her hand. 

“We trust you’ll keep it safe,” Yera said, seriousness taking over her tone.

“Aye,” Theo said, “we will try to get it to Corinspe as fast as possible. Don’t have this delivered. I will send some of my best women to come to pick it up.

“Can you trust them to bring it back?” Lanvin questioned. 

“You know the type of ship I run, friend,” Theo put plainly, “I regularly trust them with my life.” 

Theo carefully put the sword back in the case and let Lanvin put it behind the counter again. After confirming that they had everything they needed, they walked out. It was their last shop of the day and the sky was darkening with the beginnings of dusk. Ava wondered what they would do next. All the pirates seemed to have their own traditions in Niveal and she was never informed beforehand about what they would be doing. She just went with whatever the group was doing. They walked back the way they had come and trekked back to the city center. The market had been packed up and the square was empty but as they turned back down Stumbler’s Row to head back to the ship, the crowds were prominent. They dodged and weaved through the crowd until coming to the base of the ramp to the ship. 

“Just going to go change and then we can go out,” Theo said to Xyra and then turned to Ava, “you wanna come out with us? Cooker is coming too.” 

“You’re going out?” Ava asked after the long sun they had and the long night they had before had wiped her out. 

“Aye, we have to make ourselves scarce while the deliveries come in,” Theo explained, “There are a lot of things coming in and it’s best to get out of the way.”

“I’ll go out. Do I have to change?” Ava asked and looked down at her outfit. 

“No, just wait right here while I do,” Theo smiled and then walked away.


	25. Piercing

It was dark and Ava had been patiently waiting for their night out to start. Theo rejoined her, then Xyra followed by Cooker. Cooker had been sleeping for most of the sun and then drinking the other part of it. She had taken a nap to get ready for another round of drinking. Ava worried about Cooker’s internal organs. They didn’t bar hop that night, instead, they were sticking to a bar close to the port. It was one they had been in on the second night, although the details of her time there were hazy. 

Ava didn’t drink anything, her stomach threatening to quit on her if she even attempted to take a sip of the foul-tasting dark liquor they served there. It was a laid back evening compared to their previous ones, the four of them just sat around and talked as the night passed them by. She was asked a little bit about herself by Xyra and Ava glanced at Cooker. Cooker had her glass raised to her lips, peeking over the rim to watch Ava respond. 

Ava told the group that she was one of many children. She was raised pretty wealthily but she was out of the spotlight because she hated all of it. Ava had been tutored from home and she had decided to run away because of an impending marriage. She tried to stick as close to the truth as possible, omitting only her family name and her status as a noble. She did that partly to ease her own conscience about lying and partly so it was easier to track what she had told people. Ava in turn raised her own questions and found out more than she had expected from Xyra. 

Xyra was from a great house in North Efriti. She ran away and stumbled across Theo shortly after Theo herself had left home. Xyra renounced her last name a few lengths before, legally, but had been a practicing “no-namer” for a long time before that. No-namers were those born with a last name that subsequently lost or renounced it. Xyra was an only child and was only 8 when she ran away and Ava was shocked that people that young could survive out in the world all by themselves. Ava could now establish a timeline in her head, Theo left home and met Xyra and then two lengths later Cooker joined them and they had been together ever since. Ava had managed to piece that together from cycles of collected information. 

Like most of their conversations, they were about four dozen topics away from where they had originally started and they began to talk about tattoos. Xyra explained she had none, she was not a fan of pain and didn’t ever want to endure the harsh process of it. Cooker and Theo booed and mocked her but Ava sympathized with Xyra; she wasn’t sure tattoos were her thing either. Ava looked at the two tattooed pirates, she couldn’t even tell how many tattoos they had, where they had them, where they began or where they ended. The designs that were visible on Cooker were intricate and looked like it took a lot of time and grueling stabbing. Theo was always wearing clothes that covered up her tattoos so Ava never really caught a good look at them. 

“Speaking of, you reckon we should go get a small one done now?” Cooker asked and rolled up the sleeve on her left arm, “I’ve got space right here.” 

Cooker pointed to a spot on the inside of her forearm and Theo held out the same spot in hers, “Mine is empty too. We should get a siren on it.” 

“Aye, matching mermaids,” Cooker chuckled and they shook on it. 

Ava was baffled at how easy they were deciding to get something on their body for the rest of their lives, “That’s all it takes?” 

“Aye,” Xyra answered for them, “a siren is a very sensible idea compared to others they’ve had in the past.” 

“I am officially at my limit with hearing shit talked about me. I am an excellent person with excellent judgment and I will not be told otherwise. Now let’s go get our bodies permanently marked with painful needles,” Theo got up and they all followed her request. 

Ava had experimented a lot since stepping aboard the Scorned Woman but nothing could get her to get a tattoo. For some reason, the pain and the permanence scared her. She felt that this adventure she was on was a dream she was going to get woken up from at any moment and a tattoo would make her undesirable to her family, leaving her with nowhere to go. To affluent Baethan people and those with last names, tattoos were equated with criminality and poverty. Those with no last names were identified by their tendencies to get tattoos. Ava was afraid that if she were to ever have to go back that she would be dug a grave for having marked her body. 

Instead of walking straight into the building, they arrived at, Theo knocked. At first, the slot in the door pulled back and a face peeked into view. It lit up when they saw who it was and they opened the door, “If it isn’t the triplets.” 

“Kar,” Cooker said and walked into the room, “I’ve missed your ugly face. Are you down to do some art tonight?” 

“Straight to business,” the person said, brushing their short hair out of their face, “I’ve got some time. What are you thinking?” 

“Theo and I. Sirens on our arms?” Cooker showed them the spot she wanted. 

“I’ve got something in mind for that, sure,” Kar nodded and walked to a chair and sat, “Who is first?” 

Theo volunteered to go first, rolling up her sleeve to expose a forearm covered in tattoos. Ava had somewhat wished that Theo would have taken off her shirt to get tattooed but knew it wouldn’t have been wholly unnecessary. Theo made no noise of pain or any movement while her body was being repeatedly stabbed with a small needle. Kar had a small hammer and a pointy pick and was driving the ink into the skin by hammering it. Ava winced every time the hammer came down on the pick but Theo just stared intently at Kar’s work, only gritting her teeth together and curling her free hand into a fist. Ava felt the burning in the pit of her stomach as she watched Theo. She tried willing for it to go away but it was persistent. The sweat forming on Theo’s forehead was from the pain. The sweat forming on Ava’s was because watching the Captain was torture. 

Cooker was next and while she didn’t make a noise, an impressive display of strength, she constantly fidgeted and talked quickly as an attempt to distract herself. Theo, who looked almost like she was high, sat next to Ava. 

“You getting anything done?” Theo asked with a dopey smile. 

“I’m not into the idea of tattoos for myself,” Ava said. 

“No piercings either? I’ve got a bunch of earrings I never use. You can have some of them,” Theo offered. 

Ava reached up to touch her earlobes. None of Lord Vaiths daughters could have earrings until they were married. That was a pretty common practice seen in the Elox and The Twins. Women had to be married first before they decided they could get their ears pierced and they could only get it done with their husband’s permission. It was because of a woman’s body not her own. It had to be kept pristine for whatever man she would marry. To pierce an ear wasn’t a choice women could usually make without a man.

Ava figured she would do it. She did not belong to a man. Not a mystery man n nor a real one. Not even her father. She was allowed to do what she wanted to her body and it was her choice alone. Tattoos might have been too much of a leap for her but a piercing would not be.   
“I think I will pierce my ear. Only one,” Ava said, “I like the look.” 

“Aye,” Theo nodded her approval, “Like a proper pirate.” 

Cooker finished up after a while and then it was Ava’s turn. Ava was not the best with pain or needles. She would get so hurt when the seamstresses would accidentally poke her with sewing needles. She couldn’t imagine a needle going through her whole ear. Her nervousness must have been evident because Kar put a hand on her knee. 

“It will be over before you know it. You’ve got this,” Kar said. 

Theo walked over and held Ava’s hand, “Squeeze if you need it.” 

No sooner did Theo say it, Ava squeezed hard. Kar wasn’t even ready. They were still preparing the needle but Theo didn’t complain. She took the pain in her hand hoping Kar would be ready sooner rather than later. Kar walked over and held the needle up to Ava’s ear and then pushed it through. Ava let out a high pitched noise but it wasn’t quite a squeal or a scream. The needle was pulled out and a cloth was at her ear with rum on it. It stung when it touched her ear but she held the cloth there anyway. It hurt, her ear throbbing at the intrusion but Ava refused to show her pain. If she was going to keep up with her pirate counterparts she couldn’t show how a tiny pinprick affected her. 

When it was all done and Kar stepped away, Ava let go of Theo’s hand, “Is that all?” 

“You’re all set,” Kar smiled at her, “Good job.” 

Theo grabbed the coin purse on her side and removed it, setting the rest of the contents on the table. Ava could not tell how much was in the bag but it was at least 20 coins in there, mostly gold. Kar was getting a good bargain, two tattoos, and one earlobe piercing for a tiny fortune. Ava could tell why Theo was so well known now, she hadn’t met anyone so generous in her whole life. Granted, Ava hadn't met very many people in her life but she knew Theo was not a normal person. She was special, caring, willing to look out for others. Ava was overcome with another wave of warmness but this time in her chest. She watched as Theo and Kar argued over the amount of money. Theo held up her hands and scurried around the room trying to avoid Kar giving her back the pouch. 

Once Kar gave up and Theo was convinced they would keep it, the group was ready to leave. They said their thanks and Xyra led the way back out. Theo and Cooker took up the rear, comparing the new ink on their skin. The street was no calmer than it was earlier in the night, drunk people running amuck. Back onboard the ship, they did not waste much time saying their goodbyes and heading to their respective rooms. Ava went to the cabin she had slept in the night before, getting the go-ahead from Theo to take a night to rest properly. Ava was in the cabin taking off her boots when she heard a light knock on her door. 

“Come in,” she called, “It’s unlocked.” 

The door creaked open and Theo stepped in, closing the door behind her. 

“I’m back,” Theo sheepishly smiled at the redhead. 

“You just couldn’t stay away, could you?” Ava teased and Theo laughed. 

Theo took a few steps towards Ava and held up her hand, two fingers pinching something in between them. An earring with a small black diamond hanging from it, “You need to keep an earring in it or it’ll close.” 

“The hole?” Ava asked stupidly and Theo chuckled. 

“Aye, you can pick another one later if this isn’t what you want but I thought you might like it,” Theo confessed with her free hand coming to rub her neck, “Matches your new sword.” 

“I love it,” Ava grinned, she had never seen a black diamond in person. Even with the small size of it, it was mesmerizing. It reflected some of the moonlight that was coming in from the window. Theo had picked this one just for her and even cared enough to match it to her recent purchase, there was no way she was going to pick another one, “Can you put it on for me?” 

Ava hadn’t ever had her ears pierced and the thought of poking and prodding around to try and find the earring hole made her queasy, her ear was already sore. Ava hoped Theo didn’t take it as an odd request and Theo looked like she didn’t. She walked closer to Ava and gently tilted her head to the side a bit. It was the closest they had ever been and if Ava looked down just a little she could see as Theo’s face went serious while she focused on not hurting Ava. Her fingers were not soft, the tips of them rough from a lifetime of use but Ava didn’t mind them. They were calloused but gentle as she guided the earring in. 

Ava wanted to just turn her head, lean down, and kiss Theo. There was an urge in her to do it. It was as if her revelation the first night in Niveal, after the whole Zeal debacle, had opened floodgates. Her brain could no longer push the feelings aside and it was making up for lengths of lost time. The ignorance she had towards her own emotions and feelings made it easy to disregard the attraction, unaware, and conditioned to reject them. Her enlightenment had now become her curse and her stomach could not stop doing backflips whenever she saw Theo. 

Theo stepped back and smiled, “There aren’t any mirrors here so you’ll have to take my word for it, but you look dazzling.” 

“Thank you, for the earring and the compliment,” Ava said and touched the earring. The slight pull from the weight of it was an odd feeling but it didn’t hurt as much as she thought it would. 

“Goodnight, Red,” Theo said with a smile and began to back away. 

“Goodnight, Captain,” Ava returned the smile and watched as Theo slipped out of the room.

Ava went to sleep that night on her side, tender ear up in the air to avoid any mishaps. There was a grin on her face as she fell asleep.


	26. Searching

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey!! thank you for your patience in between updates!!! I love you all and thank you for keeping up to date! my twitter is @habitdyke if you wanna follow me, let me know what's you think, or just to see the writing process!!

Everything that could have gone wrong that morning did go wrong. Xyra was sick, the meat stick from the night before did not sit well with her. With no one to hold Theo accountable in the morning, she was late to meet her first contact for leads. She recruited Cooker to join her on pirate business and Theo was surprised that Cooker agreed. Cooker hated that part of the job which is why she opted to not go for first mate. The first contact, the one she was late for, was not fond of Theo and Cooker and refused to deal with them if Xyra wasn’t around. Her second contact had no good leads. 

“If we go back with nothing, Xyra is going to throw us into the sea,” Cooker pointed out. 

“I am the captain. I do not fear Xyra,” Theo said and they both laughed. “I fear Xyra just a little.” 

“She’ll slash us so we bleed before she pushes us off the plank,” Cooker described as they walked, “so the sea creatures can come and eat at our flesh as we slowly bleed out.” 

“She wouldn’t do that. I feel as if she would torture us first. Pull out our teeth and make herself a crown before leaving us to die, toothless in the ocean,” Theo responded. 

They went back and forth, coming up with hypotheticals of how they would die if they returned empty-handed. They theorized that Xyra would make a side deal with the gods to forever curse them, skinning was mentioned, they also toyed with the idea of being burned alive. They were not serious, Xyra wasn’t violent like that. She preferred emotional punishment like freezing them out. 

Bavar, the next lead they were seeing, was sitting on a chair outside of his shop, smoking a pipe. When he saw them, he slowly got up. His large belly made it hard for him to maneuver up and down easily, “The Captain! In the flesh. My dear, this morning I received something perfect for you. Aren’t you lucky.” 

“Jokuz has certainly blessed me,” Theo said, referring to the Islander god of fortune and luck. 

They followed the man inside and he handed Theo a paper. Theo handed it to Cooker, “What do you think?” 

Cooker skimmed through the paper, reading some of it aloud, “45 crates, 30 barrels... Cargo is valued at 120 thousand gold… Final destination Gossem... The preferred route would be through the coastal passage… Harsh penalty if not delivered within three cycles… Total payment of 15 thousand gold upon delivery.`` 

“Gossem is on the way to Corinspe, perfect. What is the cargo?” Theo asked. 

“Doesn’t say,” Cooker flipped the page over and examined it, “nothing there either. Bavar?” 

“It’s just a few different types of ugali,” Bavar shrugged.

Theo shook her head, “We’re not taking it.” 

“Theo, it’s 15 thousand gold,” Cooker looked stressed at Theo suggesting they pass up the opportunity. 

“I don’t transport ugali,” Theo said firmly. It was a type of drug that was highly addictive. Theo had seen whole towns and families brought down because of it. The drug came in a few different forms that all had the same effect, a heavy sedative. It could be drunk, eaten, or inhaled. 

“This client is very important. If you do this, they might have other jobs for you in the future. Things are tightening up with the reclassification coming around and these jobs are going to be harder to find. Better get yourself an in with those with influence,” Bavar tried convincing Theo. 

He had a point. Ports were closing, illegal activity was coming to a halt, and merchants were increasing precautions towards pirates to lose the least amount of money before the classifiers evaluated their worth. Leads and jobs were going to start getting harder to find. The merchants they raided to fill in whatever hole they had when no leads were also going to get harder and riskier to raid. It was her conscience versus what was best for the crew. 15 thousand could go a long way, which would put each woman’s share at around 300 gold coins. If they took this job they would have made the same amount of money in two cycles as they did in ten cycles the length before. 

“Your client, are they firm on the route? I’m not too sure about the coastal route? Rather take a few extra suns and go further out. Too many Bathean patrol ships and this close to reclassification they’re probably boarding ships to check cargo more often than usual,” Theo explained. If she was going to go against her gut, she would be doing it in the safest way possible. 

“Not sure why they chose that route. If you can get it to them in three cycles, I’m sure they don’t care how you get it there,” Bavar supplied.

Theo stayed quiet, lips pursed as she thought of what to do. She knew Xyra would value the large payment over her morality of carrying ugali. Cooker, who was usually on her side when it came to issues like this, was the one convincing her to take the job. 

“What’s your cut of my 15?” Theo asked 

“Nothing. The client is paying me separately upon delivery of the cargo, untouched, and in time. Which is why I think you’d be the best for it,” Bavar explained. Theo was known for her reliability when it came to transporting jobs. 

“Fine. I’ll do it,” Theo said. The liaison, which was Bavar, usually charged a fee from whatever the profits of the job were. Not having a fee was the last piece of the puzzle, Theo was in.

They finalized what they needed to do with Bavar and left back to the ship, having secured a well-paying job. 15 thousand gold to transport something that was already on the way to their final destination was ideal. She hoped it was the right decision, putting aside her personal preference for the sake of her crew, but that was something she would have to wait and see. 

\-------------

Ava awoke with the side of her face burning. She had left the window in the cabin open and the sun was beating down on her. She stretched out and rolled onto her other side, immediately being hit with a wave of pain. Right, the earring. She sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes, adjusting to the light. It had to be mid aftermorning by the time she woke up and she felt well-rested. Her ear was not hurting, only a dull throb was present. She put her bare feet on the ground and got up. Ava made the bed, collected whatever she had left the night before, and made her way to the lower decks. 

She found no one in the lower decks, not even sleeping. Going back up onto the deck she saw no one either. The ship was practically deserted. Ava was on the deck for a reason, she wanted to go to Theo’s quarters to see if her clothes had been delivered. After she knocked on the door and then tried opening it herself she realized no one was there. Even if her stuff had been delivered, there was no way to get it. There seemed to be none of her regular group around and she was at a loss for what to do. Niveal was intimidating, loud, and busy and she wasn’t sure she was ready to take it on by herself. With the crutch of friends gone, it was either boredom or braving the Nivealean streets alone. 

Ava refilled her coin purse with her stash and set out. There were a few things she was interested in doing that she hadn’t gotten around to doing, mainly visiting a bookstore and the market square. She disembarked from the ship and walked up Stumbler’s row, deserted compared to night time. The sun was strong and it shone down on her bare arms, burning her slightly. Ava, being so pale, burned easily and she tried her best to stay out of the direct sunlight. She heard the market before she saw it. Like the sun before, there was a large array of products and goods waiting to be bought. 

There was no logical place to start as there was no structure to the market. It couldn’t even be compared to a maze, a maze was structured and well defined, this was not. It was more like a battlefield, no right place to go except to keep marching onwards. She opted to just start with what looked pretty to her, a booth with tapestries. Hand-dyed fabrics lined the stall and the older couple running it seemed lost in their own world. Ava just wanted to observe, not buy. She didn’t have the luxury she had yesterday of being able to get items delivered because of Theo so she needed to be wise with her purchases. 

Ava hopped from stall to stall. Her weakness was the fruit, every stall she stopped at that had fresh fruit she ended up buying some. One to eat and one to take with her. By the time she had finished only one of the many sections of the market, she was full off fruit. The bag she was given at the beginning by one of the fruit vendors was weighing on her arm. She figured maybe it was time to stop indulging in the fruit and she looked for other goods. 

Each stall was slightly different but they mostly sold the same category of goods: dried meats and fruits, artisan decoration, artisanal jewelry, and hand-dyed fabrics. She had a mantra going in her head, only buy what is necessary. Ava tried her hardest to stick to it but she caved, she bought a thin silver ring for herself, a few decorations she had no business buying since she had no home to decorate and finally she bought some dried meats for Theo. She pondered over the last purchase for a bit. Would Theo read into it? Was it weird? 

She remembered the multiple occasions where she saw Theo snacking on jerky and also remembered hearing Theo complain about running out. Ava felt silly about it after her purchase. Theo was one of the most well-known pirates around and she had what seemed like unlimited funds. If Theo wanted jerky, Theo would get jerky. Ava stared at the bag that contained it and considered finding someone to give it to. She decided against it, she needed to just give it to Theo regardless of what it may look like. 

After going through half of the market, she decided to call it quits. There was more for her to do elsewhere. She had seen a bookstore during their time shopping the sun before, Theo had walked past it saying it was of no interest to them. It was odd to Ava, Theo was someone who requested a library on the ship. Her best friend and she read books together. Theo posed to be someone who was passionate about books and art. Ava has a sneaking suspicion something was off, the same feeling she had the day before when they were shopping.

The sun before, the only thing that changed between the times Theo had refused to help Ava and the time that she did help was the language the list was written in. When they were going into the Aelizan shop, Theo was all ready to be helpful and read the list. She was able to list the items and help Ava shop for them. In the three shops before that, Theo hadn’t even lifted a finger to help. The helpful Theo was the Theo she had grown to know. There had to be something impeding Theo from wanting to help.

Ava racked her brain. Was she morally opposed to something the first three shops sold? Was she uncomfortable with all of the other shop owners except the Aelizan one? Or was it something more ludicrous, something that had been poking at the back of her mind. 

Could Theo not read? 

Or at least, not common. At the surface level, it made no sense. There wasn’t a possibility that the captain of a ship could not read. Thinking deeper though, it made a little bit of sense. Come to think about it, Ava had never seen Theo pick up anything to read. More than that, Theo’s pirate business was never conducted alone. Yesterday all of the questions about the list went straight to Xyra as if it was a habit. 

Theo spoke Aelizan; it could only be assumed she also read it, which is why she was willing to help in the last shop, the Aelizan one... But could she read common? No signs pointed to her being able to. Ava had more evidence that Theo couldn’t than that she could. Her mind was racing, with questions and with wonder. If it was true, then Theo had managed to get very far in her profession. Ava wanted to respect Theo’s privacy on the matter but curiosity got the best of her. She would have to figure out a way to test her theory but was at a loss on how to. 

Ava managed to find the bookshop with relative ease, small and inconspicuous from the outside but massive on the inside. Much like the jewelry store, the outside did not hint at the enormous interior. It had rows of bookshelves reaching more than 15 feet in the air with ladders in each row. There was no second story, just a tall ceiling that allowed for the shelves to reach high up. Ava craned her head up to observe every inch of the store. It was cozy and despite the tall ceiling space still felt a bit cramped due to the number of items in the store. Ava felt so overwhelmed she did not even know where to begin. There was no one around to help.

She began to browse and stumbled upon a sketch that was nailed into the side of a bookshelf. It was the layout of the store, split into four quadrants, each one a new genre. There were nonfiction biographies, fiction, nonfiction, history. Ava didn’t know why history was not with nonfiction but she was not one to critique a system she knew nothing about. The first item on her mental list was a book that explained the social rules and norms of different continents. There was no way she was going to get caught up in an embarrassing Safriti moment again. How she had not known that Efritit was considered two separate provinces was beyond her. Ava needed something that laid out the current state of things. 

It took her a while before she pinpointed the row that she needed within the quadrant she needed. Nonfiction quadrant in row 13, Baethan nonfiction with a concentration on the continents. Once there, she perused the books until finding one she wanted. A thick, 600-page book. It was about two times wider than any standard book and heavy. It seemed comprehensive and flipping through it Ava saw sketches throughout the book. Clothes, houses, food, hairstyles, everything that Ava could use visualization for, the book provided it. Her arms were beginning to grow very tired and the book was not helping matters. She had a few more things to buy but she wasn’t sure she would be able to carry anything else back to the ship. 

Lugging the large book around she made her way to Nonfiction about weapons. She was going to read up on everything there was to know about weapons and combat, there had to be something useful she could learn like that. When Theo was ready to have the vanguard conversation, Ava would be prepared. Another half an hour later, she found the weapons book she wanted. A smaller book, not too wide, and only around 150 pages. It had illustrations of the weapons, the history of them, and some useful information as to their uses. The lighter book still made a significant weight contribution to her growing collection of goods. Her fingers were straining to keep it all up and she had to take frequent stops to put everything down. 

She could have just left then but she had one last book selection to make, Theo. Ava had an inkling that Theo was the subject of at least one book and Ava wanted to find it. It wasn’t that she felt she couldn’t ask Theo about her life, it was that she would have rather read about it than had to ask. Ava was already known for her questions and she didn’t see the issue with reading public knowledge. She wasn’t invading privacy if that information was easily accessible. She just wanted small details that explained who the captain was, where Theo was from, how long she had been sailing, little details of her life before becoming a captain, and her accolades as a captain. It wasn’t like Ava was going to hide it from Theo. If Theo asked what Ava had bought, she would be honest but she also wasn’t going to go out of her way to tell the captain. 

When she managed to find the correct quadrant and section, there wasn’t just one book about Theo, there were five. Skimming through them, she couldn’t figure out the difference between any of them so she decided to take the two thickest ones.

Ava lugged her belongings to the checkout desk. At least, she assumed that is what it was. She had found it during her many revolutions around the quadrants during her search for the books. She rang a bell that was on the counter and waited. A woman with thick glasses and a friendly smile approached the counter after emerging from behind some rows of books. She was short and had to use a step stool behind the counter to be at eye level with Ava. 

“Good aftermorning! Have you shopped with us before? Apologies if you have, I don’t seem to remember you,” the woman asked, her smile never fading from her face. 

“First time. Your shop is lovely,” Ava complimented.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it! Did you find everything you needed?” the shopkeeper asked. 

“Aye,” Ava handed her the books, “I was shopping around yesterday and some shops offered delivery. Would I be able to do that?” 

“We don’t deliver past a certain point. Where would you want this to go?” 

“To the docks. The Scorned Woman,” Ava said, praying she would not have to drag the books back. 

“Your one of The Captain’s girls?” the woman’s permanent smile somehow grew. 

“Aye, I joined the crew not too long ago. You know Theo?” Ava asked. 

“Apparently more than you do,” the woman teased, holding up one of the books about Theo. 

Ava’s cheeks heated up and fidgeted in her spot a bit, “She’s a bit of a mystery.” 

“Those pirates keep their cards close to their chest, I don’t blame you. Would you also like me to deliver what you were carrying?” the shopkeeper offered. 

Ava looked down at her items. Her hands were itching for release and she put her items on the counter, “Yes, please. That would be so amazing. How much would it be in total for the deliveries too?” 

“Delivery is free for any of Theo’s girls. It will be delivered to her quarters though so you’ll have to coordinate with her to pick things up,” the woman explained then began to collect all of Ava’s things, “the books will run you seven silver.”

Ava took out a gold piece and placed it on the table. She had too much money to need the change and she wanted to leave a little bit extra as a thanks for the help. The shopkeeper never officially ended the transaction, just packed up the things, and left. She disappeared behind the rows of books once again, leaving behind the payment. After standing around for a few minutes, Ava realized the woman wasn’t coming back and she left, her hands-free and her schedule open.


	27. Three's a crowd.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i would love feedback on the chapter!!!! again, thank you for reading!!! twitter: habitdyke

Ava was walking back to the ship through a slightly crowded Stumbler’s Row, familiar with the route back by that time. About halfway back to the docks, she stumbled into three very familiar faces. Skins, Rita, and Chubs. Skins recognized Ava first and waved frantically to get her attention. 

“Oi! Carpentry Wizard!” Skins poked fun and made a beeline to Ava.

Upon recognizing the voice, Ava walked towards Skins and met her halfway, “Hello. It’s been a few suns! How have you guys been?”

“I haven’t been able to feel my face for the past three nights,” Chubs laughed and Ava laughed along, unsure if Chubs was joking or not. 

“What are you doing all alone?” Skins asked. 

“Just finished some shopping. You?” 

“Going to The Pinnacle. You’re coming,” Skins said, it wasn’t a question. 

Ava nodded along and didn’t object. She was going to head back to the boat and pathetically walk around until she found someone that would talk to her and wherever the carpentry girls were heading was probably more fun. The girls welcomed her into the group and set off toward their destination. Rita, who hadn’t spoken, was staring in amazement at everything around her. Chubs had to take her by the arm and drag her along just so she could keep up. Ava watched Rita as Rita watched everything else. 

The Pinnacle was the brothel at the top of Stumbler’s Row, an establishment Ava was familiar with. Upon walking in, it was unchanged from the last time she had been in there. Women and men walking around in clothing items that were too small with patrons either speaking with them, at the bar or interacting with their friends. Chubs made a straight shot to the bar and Rita was handed over to Ava’s care. Skins and Ava worked together and managed to spot a table. Chubs eventually managed to get back to them with a round of drinks. 

Skins and Chubs bounced off of each other to recount what they had done in Niveal. They had gone shopping on the first day and had been partying ever since. Ava was telling them about her day when a hand came to rest on her shoulder. 

“What a lovely face to be greeted with at the start of my night,” a familiar voice said. 

Ava looked up and saw Zeal, shirtless, and grinning. He bent down and planted a kiss on either of Ava’s cheeks. Zeal looked at the other girls and waved then pointed to Rita. 

“Hiya Rita,” he laughed at her dazed expression, “guess we won’t be having any fun tonight, huh?” 

Chubs shook her head for Rita, “No touching or feeling for her tonight.” 

“Would you care to follow me? I have a few people that would like to meet you,” Zeal said and offered a hand to Ava. 

“Me?” Ava asked, incredulous at the fact that someone would want to meet her. 

She took Zeal’s hand and stood up. At first, she was hit with a wave of excitement and then a wave of dread. This could have been a trap. Maybe someone had recognized her and they hired Zeal to isolate her. She looked to the boy, not a trace of guilt or worry on his face. She still kept her free hand hovering near her waist, ready to pull her dagger. 

“They’re upstairs,” Zeal said as they approached a door that opened to a set of stairs. 

Ava stopped, a bit more suspicious, “Who is 'they'?” 

Zeal sensed that the hesitation that came from the vagueness of his words and he chuckled at himself, “Right, sorry. My roommates. I’ve told them about you. They said if I ever saw you again, I had to bring you over to them to introduce you. But today is their day off, they aren’t on the floor so I have to take you upstairs.”

“Right,” Ava said and relaxed, following Zeal up the stairs, “and why do they want to meet me?” 

“Because they want to say thank you for the money.” 

“The money?”

“The gold coins you gave me. I split it with them. We are saving up to move out and start a business outside of the main city,” Zeal smiled proudly at his goal of leaving the brothel, “The gold you gave us put us cycles ahead of where we were.” 

Ava’s heart was warmed and she had no regrets about the money she gave. Zeal had every chance to take the money and better himself only but instead, he decided to share. 

“What else did you say?” Ava was trying to see how much of the whole ‘attempting to sleep together’ thing was revealed. 

“I might have gone a little overboard with the information,” Zeal admitted as they got upstairs, “They know the circumstances in which we met and that you didn’t go through with it and that you are unlaid.” 

“So my entire life story,” Ava quipped, she was annoyed at the lack of privacy but she couldn’t blame Zeal. She would have probably told her closest mates if someone gave her more than 80 gold randomly. 

“I am sorry. I didn’t realize I had spilled all of the information until it was all out there,” Zeal had an apologetic look on his face. His kitten-like eyes and his sorry expression conveyed his genuine remorse. 

“It’s alright, Zeal,” Ava assured him, annoyance slipping away, “Are those the friends you were willingly offering up to finally lay me? “

Zeal laughed, “Yes, and I talked to them about that as well.” 

“Oh? And what did they say when you told them that you had promised their bodies to a random stranger?” Ava chuckled.

“They were practically fighting over you,” Zeal joked and then opened a door on the second floor.

The room they walked into was not small but the amount of furniture in there made it seem that way. There was one large bed in the middle of the room and smaller cot-like beds around it. There was one desk and two large trunks and two large wardrobes. Ava spotted three girls sitting on the large bed and Ava realized they all lived in the same room together. All four of them. There were two brunette girls and one with dirty blonde hair. Ava couldn’t see how tall they were but the girl on the left looked to be towering over the other girls even sitting down. She was also thicker than the other girls she had seen working and Ava couldn’t take her eyes off of her. She was gorgeous.

The girls, who had been chattering loudly, stopped their conversation to look at the new guest. 

“This is Ava,” Zeal said and Ava waved a bit, “The girl from the other night I was telling you about.”

The girl in the middle, the one with dirty blonde curly hair, “The unlaid one. You are very pretty. I was not expecting that. When Zeal told us he had met an unlaid girl of 16 lengths I thought you were hideous.” 

“Please forgive her,” the tall brunette girl said, “Angeli doesn't understand what is appropriate to say and what isn’t. We have heard a lot about you.”

“Clearly,” Ava joked and nudged Zeal with her arm, “I am Ava. It is nice to meet you all.” 

“You’ve met Angeli,” the tall girl said, “I am Kit and-”

“And I am Spec,” the other brunette got up from her seat and walked over to Ava. Spec extended her hand and shook Ava’s, “It is lovely to meet you.” 

“Let her breathe before you try and get her to pick you as her friend for the evening,” Angeli snickered and Spec turned around to flip the other girl off. 

“Oh no! I wasn’t here for that,” Ava stammered, “Zeal brought me up here.”

“Bummer,” Spec said and went to go back to sit on the bed, “thought we would get acquainted well tonight.” 

“We wanted to thank you for the gold you gave Zeal. It helps us a lot. This shithole is 10 gold and you can’t find anything cheaper in the city. We’re just itching to leave,” Kit explained. 

“10 gold? A length?” Ava asked. 

“A cycle,” they all said in perfect unison. 

“Holy fuck,” Ava’s jaw dropped, “For this room?” 

“Yes,” Spec nodded, “which is why we need to get the fuck out of here.” 

“Zeal said you were planning on setting up a business,” Ava remembered their conversation earlier, “What is it?” 

“A fabric dyeing shop. We could come to sell our products in the central markets,” Kit informed Ava. 

“Nobles will be wearing our fabrics, mark my words,” Angeli said firmly. 

“Well, I am very happy I could help you in your endeavors,” Ava said sincerely and then removed her coin purse from her side and set it down on one of the trunks. 

This morning, she had packed only 30 gold coins but she estimated that she had about 20 left

She wouldn’t be needing it and she still had about 100 gold left in her stuff. She had a place to stay and food to eat and she knew she wouldn’t miss 20 gold. These girls and Zeal seemed excited to get out of there as quickly as possible and Ava wanted to help.

“Ava you can’t do that,” Kit said once she realized what the redhead was doing, “You’ve given us enough.”

“I have no need for this,” Ava said, “I promise this is the best way I could spend this money.” 

“At least stay a while then? We love the company and that way a stranger isn’t giving us this money,” Kit asked with a convincing bat of her eyelashes. 

“Oh please! We do love company,” Angeli started to get off the bed, “I can go fetch us some snacks from downstairs.” 

Ava shrugged, it didn’t seem like a bad idea. Kit seemed very sweet and Ava wanted to spend more time with her. Ava was drawn to Kit and she was finally able to put her finger on the feeling, attraction. It was the first time that she was able to acknowledge her feelings and recognize them. 

“I’ll stay,” Ava said.

“Right, I’ll be going then. I’m going to let your group know you are preoccupied at the moment,” Zeal said and wiggled his eyebrows.

“Quit it,” Ava laughed, “Do not make your explanation to them suggestive.” 

“I will behave myself,” Zeal said.

“Alright, Big Mouth. Very believable,” Spec snorted.

Zeal ignored her and walked out. Angeli was right behind him, leaving the room to get the snacks she had mentioned. Ava was offered a spot on the bed and she climbed onto it. It was soft and her body sank into the mattress. Kit began by introducing herself again and letting Ava know a little about herself. She was 21, came from Safriti three lengths before, and had been working at the pinnacle for two of them. Spec offered up less about herself but did mention that her name was short for specialist, her dub. Ava assumed her specialty was something to do with pleasing women if her tone and gestures when explaining her name were any indications. Angeli did come back with the snacks as promised and also brought wine. The girls began to tell Ava all about where the different snacks and wine came from.

Once they were a few glasses in, they began to ask Ava about herself. She told them that she ran away from home when she was promised to a man, she told them a little bit about her journey down Elox, her time on the ship and what she had been doing in Niveal. They spoke about Theo for a bit. Angeli mentioned how she had been friends with Theo when they were younger. Angeli, being born and raised in Niveal, would often spend time with Theo, Cooker, and Xyra when they came into town before having their own ship. She mentioned how Theo used to be head over heels in love with Xyra as kids. Ava would have to follow up with Theo about that fun fact Angeli dropped. 

The conversation would always come back to her, the girls asking incessant questions about her past and her time at sea. The line of questioning started to dive into saucy territory when the girls started to bring up sex. They seemed to be interested in the circumstances behind her being unlaid. 

“So, nothing? Like actually nothing?” Angeli’s mouth gaped. 

“No,” Ava shook her head. She had learned to not be embarrassed by it by now. It was the situation she was born and raised in and people lately never really judged her for it. They were just shocked and Ava had learned the difference by then, “Just some kisses but that is it.” 

“You never had the urge?” Kit asked.

“I don’t think I like men, so no,” Ava replied. 

“But men aren’t the only ones you can lay with. You never had the urge with anyone else?” Angeli grilled. 

“I never considered it a possibility so I guess I never had the urge,” Ava responded. Sex didn’t use to be on her mind a lot. Her family didn’t speak of it. A woman was supposed to learn about the act of sex the night before their weddings, their mothers would advise and guide them. Before then, girls were expected to not so much as think about anything lewd or inappropriate. It didn’t stop them though. They gossiped about it, talked about it, compared notes, and snuck off to fool around with boys. However, Ava was never included in those conversations and even if she was, she wouldn’t have understood. 

“So you’re not interested in it at all?” Spec asked. 

“I wouldn’t say that,” Ava laughed. She was very interested. She was beyond interested, she was longing to lay with someone. Specifically, a woman. Ava had spent so much of her life in the dark and she had loads of lost time to make up for. Plus, she wanted to lay with a woman to answer some of her own questions. She knew she didn’t need sex to confirm that she was a nox, she felt the attraction. What she had felt with Theo and then again with Kit; it wasn’t anything she had felt with men in the past. Still, Ava wanted sex. She wanted to see what all the fuss was about. She wanted to see if she could feel the things people described. 

“So you are interested?” Spec perked up. 

Ava laughed at the action and nodded, “Sure. You could say I am interested.” 

“We would be more than happy to help you with that,” Spec suggested with a cock to her eyebrow. 

“That is very kind of you. If I had any money left I would take you up on the offer but I seem to have given away the rest of it,” Ava said with a laugh. 

“Oh we wouldn’t want money from you,” Angeli said, “you’ve given us a lot of that already. This would just be for a bit of fun.” 

Now that money was out of the equation, nothing was stopping Ava from saying yes. The thing was, Ava did want to say yes. She couldn’t think of any excuses because she didn’t have excuses. She felt butterflies form in her stomach, a mix of anxiety over the unknown and excitement for what was potentially to come. 

“No pressure but you really can’t beat the selection you have in front of you,” Spec said cockily. 

Kit had been quiet for most of the exchange but she finally spoke up, “Obviously, you are free to say no but we would be able to walk you through it and answer anything you have questions about.” 

“We? As in all of you?” Ava asked. The language they had been using consistently using referred to them engaging in whatever it was they were going to do as a group. 

“No,” Kit laughed. 

“Although, it isn’t something I would be opposed to,” Angeli said, “the more the merrier.” 

“She’s right. The more people are naked with me, the more comfortable I feel,” Spec chimed in. 

“Right, if you want more than one then we can do that,” Kit shook her head with a smile, “but you are more than welcome to just invite one of us. Or, you can just tell us to back off and we’ll drop the subject.” 

Ava was faced with a decision she thought she would never have. Should she sleep with one, two, three, or no women? They were very pretty, each in their own way. They were different and while Ava was interested in Kit she was not opposed to getting to know the other two more intimately. She shocked herself with her thoughts and she was baffled at how far she had come. From thinking renouncers were horrible to realizing she was one herself. 

She had no qualms about laying with a woman that was practically a stranger for her first time. Why would she stop at just one? With one person Ava felt that the pressure would be immense. It would be one on one contact with an intense focus on one another. With only one other body in the room to focus on she felt that it would be too intimate for her liking. With more people, she felt the attention would be divided, more open and relaxed. She was not interested in romance. Ava wanted a good time, she wanted to learn and explore and have fun. There would be time for romance in the future. She was young and wild and in one of the most eccentric and insane places in all of Baethos.

“Aye, let’s do it,” Ava said. 

“With?” Kit asked. 

Ava laughed as she said it, shrugged, and threw her hands up slightly, “All of you.”


	28. Breach of Contract

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw// drug usage, drugging, SA

Theo and Cooker were exhausted by the end of the aftermorning. After securing a job they went about the second half of their business in Niveal, checking up on the establishments under Theo’s care. Xyra was the one that usually came but Cooker was known to tag along from time to time. They made quick work of most of the brothels and other places that employed a large number of women. Theo acted as their protector of sorts, ensuring that owners and employers were paying fair wages, ensuring good working conditions, and putting rules in place for the safety of the women. It was not always easy to get the owners to cooperate but somehow in Niveal they always had an easy time. Problem was, most of the establishments on Stumbler’s Row fell under Theo’s protection. While the check-ins were easy and friendly, the number of businesses made it tedious and strenuous work. 

They had an easy time, no problems. They had visited every single business that was under their jurisdiction except for one. They were greeted with friendly conversation and gifts from both employers and employees. The only one they had left, Wolf’s Corner, was left last for a reason. Wolf, the owner, was a scumbag of the highest degree. He was difficult, rude, insubordinate, and nasty. Theo had half a mind to throw him into the bay with ten bricks tied to his legs every time they finished interacting with him. She wasn’t a tyrant though and for the most part, Wolf followed the rules. She could not kill someone solely because they annoyed her. 

Upon walking in, Theo found the nearest employee and stopped them, “Good aftermorning, I am here to see Wolf. He’s expecting me.” 

“Captain Theo?” the woman asked and Theo nodded. Her eyes a little wide, having never met the pirate legend before, “Aye, Master Wolf had to head out. He told me to let you know he will be back shortly.” 

Theo thanked the girl then turned back to Cooker and rolled her eyes, “Fucker is going to make us wait.” 

“Wouldn’t be anything new,” Cooker grumbled and led them to go find a seat. 

Wolf tended to disappear anytime they would come around. Theo had been in Niveal for four suns and every owner under Theo knew she came around on the fourth sun to check-up on everything. Wolf would make them wait for hours. Theo couldn’t explain why. Perhaps he wanted to make them wait just to inconvenience her. Maybe he thought if he made them wait long enough they would leave. It never worked, they always stayed but he just kept doing it. Wolf was amicable compared to some of the other nightmares she had to deal with. 

Wolf always ended up screwing himself over by making them wait. Without his threatening presence in the room, it was a lot easier to get the girls to talk. When he was out and it was only his second hand that was around, it was easier to take the girls away for a talk. Like the employers, the employees at these establishments also knew on the fourth sun of The Captain’s stay on Niveal was the time to air out their grievances. Theo, Cooker, and Xyra had been doing these check-ins for so long that they had a system of being able to distract whoever they needed and pull who they wanted to speak to. With Wolf gone and his secondhand always holed up in a room with women, they didn’t even need to sneak anyone away. 

“We’ll be here a while,” Theo said, “I’m going to grab a drink at the bar and talk to some people. Go do the same.” 

Cooker walked to the staircase, going to interview some of the women that lived upstairs. Theo ordered a mug of ale and then began to walk around the room. She said hi to various of the girls she recognized and spoke with them a little. What she was hearing was not promising and she called all the girls that weren’t working to join her at a large seating area. She sat back and began to ask questions. Theo was growing increasingly more angry at hearing what Wolf had been doing. 

Wolf had a fucked up power thing and when Theo first came to know this place he had the girls call him Master. That was the first thing Theo made him change, she made it clear that the women were not his property but Wolf was at it again. He was paying the women the agreed-upon nightly right but was not honoring the paid night off the women got. He also wasn’t honoring the agreed-upon limit of clients a woman could see in a night. He was being verbally abusive and overall breaking every code they had put in place for the safety of the women. Wolf had broken one or two rules in the past and it was always annoying to try and get him to fix it but it was never so many at once. His escalation was worrying and Theo did not have a good feeling about it. 

Cooker came back with a scowl on her face and a pouch in her hand, “Found a fuckload of this in a locked closet upstairs. 

She tossed it on the table and Theo leaned forward to swipe it up. She peeked inside and drew in a sharp breath, shocked at the sight. Theo was seething with anger, she stood up and tossed the bag back on the table. 

“So, which one of you was going to tell me about this,” Theo said, calmly not showing the women how angry she was. They stayed silent, none of them even daring to look up at Theo, “Has he been offering you ugali before your shifts?” 

None of the women answered. Theo closed her eyes and tried not to pull out her expected Captain Theo thunder. She always tried her hardest to stay calm, collected, and nonthreatening with the women. They went through enough shit and they were always spared from witnessing Theo’s anger and wrath, the stuff of stories and legends. She wanted to be gentle but she needed answers before Wolf came back. 

“Everyone out!” Theo yelled to the room at large, “My colleague will give you gold for your troubles and reimburse you for whatever you spent on your time with the women.” 

Cooker took the coin purse from Theo’s waist and made her way to the door, handing out the compensation Theo promised with no grumbles to be heard. One gold was more than a fair trade when the patrons could just walk ten feet to the next establishment that was just the same. When the patrons in the main room had left, Cooker made her rounds to each of the rooms found in the building, knocking and kicking the men out. Theo stood in the middle of the group of women the whole time, nodding at each of the women that exited a room and came to join them. 

Theo cleared her throat once all the women were gathered and looked around at all of them, “I will not hurt you. I will not tell Wolf who it is that says anything. I know some of the old girls know that but I’m letting the new girls know if something is wrong to come forward. It is the only way I can do something about it. You help him sweep something under the rug, it will only make him stronger.” 

She was trying to reason with them. She wondered how much had changed and what nightmares the women had to endure since the last time she had been there. They look terrified like if someone spoke then Wolf himself would appear from thin air. The other rules that had been broken were major but had fewer repercussions. Theo had made it clear with every single business owner that’s establishment was under her protection that there would be no drugging their employees. No matter the line of work, no matter the type of drug; the employers were to never give or encourage the use of substances. In brothels, it was commonplace for the owner to provide women with mild to heavy sedative drugs, usually highly addictive substances. It created a dependency between the employee and the employer. The drugs were far too expensive for average workers to afford for regular use so their employers would become their supplier. 

It led to a myriad of problems. The physical and mental repercussions of being drugged before having sex were profound and that was only the surface of the consequences it had. These women would not only grow dependent on the drug and their boss but they would also begin to fear speaking up in fear of retaliation. Retaliation being withholding the supply of drugs.   
It kept them from speaking up, kept them from being present and able to consent, it kept them from leaving. Out of all the despicable practices Theo tried to stop, drugs in the workplace was her main priority. As a user of recreational substances herself, Theo did not care for what the women took part in during their free time but this was different. This was manipulation, something only evil people did. 

“Girls,” Theo sat back down to be on their level, “This is strong stuff. It clouds judgments and is easy to get hooked on. I need to know if he is giving you this or if it was just in a random closet. I need to know if he is blameless here.” 

She was practically pleading with them. Wolf could be back at any minute and the girls would be in trouble if he walked in to see this. Theo needed proof before he came back. There were many familiar faces, girls Theo had worked with for lengths, she didn’t understand why they weren’t speaking. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair, frustrated at their lack of cooperation. Theo observed them, most of them looking away or fidgeting with their clothes. She could threaten them, she could say she was going to throw away the stash but she didn’t want to operate that way. 

“I know you are all scared,” she tried again, “I know that what he’s been giving you is really strong. It’s really easy to get hooked on. If any of you right now are feeling numb, like you’re drowning, like you want to stop but you can’t then please, tell me the truth. I can get you help and keep you safe from him.” 

Theo’s words seemed to begin to speak to some of them. Some of them were in deep, she could tell by the sunken look in their eyes that the ugali had dug in its claws. One of the girls who was curled in on herself began to cry and Theo’s heart hurt for her 

“He gives us some before we start and after if we’ve met his quota,” the girl said in a whisper, afraid that any louder and she’d be heard by Wolf. 

Once the silence was broken the women let the details flow. At first, he didn’t offer it to all of them, just the ones that had been getting lower numbers. He told them it would help them on days they weren’t feeling up to working. Once they were hooked it became a motivator for them. Theo tried to stay reactionless but she was sick to her stomach. It was something she had seen countless times but never in a brothel under her protection. She had failed these women. Why hadn’t any of them written to her or spoken about it with her? Had Wolf managed to manipulate them all into addiction? 

The confirmation that Wolf giving ugali to the girls was all she needed. Wolf had broken the one rule he couldn’t. When businesses came under Theo’s jurisdiction it was for one of two reasons: protection for the employers or protection for the employee. The former was a more amicable agreement. Theo would offer protection to a business in exchange for certain favors. A bookstore that had been consistently harassed by the local gang would come under Theo’s protection and in return, Theo would get a discount on their books. Or a winery at risk of being looted offered the crew first pick of the batch before shipping it out. Theo’s name and the Scorned Woman carried a lot of weight in Baethos and a business simply having Theo’s name attached was usually enough to keep people away. 

The second relationship she had with the establishments under her was for the protection of the employee and was far less amicable. Theo would swoop in and rather threateningly force the owner into a legally binding contract. The contract stated a list of rules that the owner would agree to abide by or face consequences. There, of course, were perks to being in partnership with Theo, increase in business was one of them. Theo and her crew being constantly vocal about the unacceptable situation in brothels had turned a few heads in the lengths they had been sailing. The culture around brothels and the sex industry was changing and it was thanks to their efforts. Now, patrons wanted to know that the women they were hiring were being taken care of. It was to justify the morality of it, so the clients could have peace of mind. Theo would take it, whatever the reason. It was now common that brothel owners requested Theo come in and partner with them, the stamp of approval from Theo was worth that restriction, in a business sense. 

Of the consequences mentioned in the contracts, the most severe and only one explicitly laid out in the was the loss of an owner’s business in the case they were using drugs to coerce or manipulate employees. No one had broken that rule before and now Theo had to figure out what the fuck to do. If she got the ball rolling before Wolf came back then the momentum would be hard to stop.

“I need you all to go up to your rooms and lock the doors. Do not come out until either Cooker or I come and get you,” Theo said and watched as the women scrambled upstairs, “Cook, I’m going to need you to go raid his office and find the contract. I’ve gotta go get someone to handle the legal stuff.”

Cooker didn’t even verbally confirm she understood her instructions before she rushed to where the office was. Theo was going to have to run to another establishment and hope there was a lawyer there. Theo knew it was airtight and with only two witnesses and a lawyer present to sign, the business could be turned over to whoever Theo wanted. But she had to find a lawyer. Theo ran like her life depended on it. She hopped from place to place, yelling through the crowded bars for a lawyer. After four tries, she finally found one, and with a promise to pay him 10 gold they were on their way. Wolf had not returned yet and Theo was thankful for once that the man was hard-headed and intent on making a point. The longer he made Theo wait, the worse it would be for him. 

Theo returned with the lawyer and went into the office. Wolf’s second hand was sitting in a chair and Cooker was sitting on the desk in front of him, pointing her dagger at him. 

“Found this one lurking around in his room, too scared to come out,” Cooker chuckled and leaned forward pressing the dagger into his neck, “Thought it would be fun having him watch us sign away a business that was soon to be his. Have we got the law on our side captain?” 

“Aye, cost me 10 fucking gold. Told him it would just be a minute and the greedy fucker wouldn’t budge from that price,” Theo explained as if he wasn’t in the room, “Alright sir, Cooker here will show you what paperwork to review and I will bring down a witness to testify that there has been a violation of the contract and also to view the signing. I’m sure you’ll find the paperwork is orderly.” 

Theo walked out of the room and walked upstairs. There were a few rooms where all the women slept and Theo knocked on the one she knew belonged to the lady of the house. The one in charge of looking after the women, their problems, finances, and day to day administration. The door opened and Theo walked in. There were three other girls in the room and Theo cleared her throat fixing the lady with a look. 

“Girls, leave,” the woman said, “Go into Poks’ room.” 

The girls hurried out and to where they were instructed and Theo closed the door behind them. Theo walked towards the lady of the house and put her hands behind her back. 

“Bea, I have known you for a while so I expect you to answer these next questions honestly,” Theo said, taking a step closer to the woman, “Have you been taking ugali?” 

Bea shook her head no. 

“So you have been sitting on the sidelines? Clear-headed while the girls you are supposed to care for are being run into the ground. While he drugged them so they could work more, you were sober and witnessing it? You did nothing.” 

“What was I supposed to do? You know him. He would strangle me if I tried to stand up to him,” Bea tried to defend herself. 

“That is my whole job. To stand up to him for you. You should have written,” Theo insisted and Bea lowered her head. 

“I know! I’m sorry. I thought maybe it was better for them. Thought it would be easier if they were a little out of it with clients. Less to remember and regret at night,” Bea reasoned. 

“That was not your choice to make. You’ve fucked them over, Bea. The road to recovery is fucking brutal and some might not ever bounce back from this. You were supposed to protect them and you didn’t,” Theo said harshly. She knew it was a lot to put on Bea but it was a responsibility she promised to uphold. Not doing so proved costly and Bea needed to know that. 

“Don’t judge me! It was hard for me too. I never wanted this responsibility,” Bea began to cry, tears running down her cheek and Theo grew infuriated with the girl. 

“You begged for it! You campaigned for this spot, Bea! Don’t sit there and lie to me and think I’ve forgotten you edged out someone who had been here for a classification!” Theo yelled, raising her voice for the first time that day. Bea said nothing in return she just fell to the ground and sobbed into her hands. Theo did not soften instead she began to walk out, “Once you compose yourself you are going to go to the office and act as a witness to Wolf’s actions. As the lady of the house and one of the only sober ones here, you are the most credible. It’s the least you can do to repay them.” 

Theo walked out without as much as a glance in Bea’s direction. Once the door was shut and she was alone in the hallway she took a second. Her fists were clenched and her jaw was tight, she needed to relax but couldn’t. She had never spoken to any of the women in that way before. She had never pointed blame and sure as fuck never made any of them cry. She felt guilty for a second then she remembered the circumstances. If there was one thing Theo couldn’t stand it was a liar. There was something deeper going on between Bea, Wolf, and the girls. She was getting something out of the arrangement, Bea’s profits were upped or something of the sort. 

Theo couldn’t care to find out. Wolf was out and Bea was sure to lose whatever power she once had. Theo hadn’t even taken a second to think through what was about to happen. She had never had to take someone’s business away before, she had never been pushed that far. They had prepared for the moment that an owner did defect and she was glad they had. Theo wouldn’t have even known where to begin with the process if they hadn’t. She thought about how lucky she was to have competent people by her side and found her way back to the office. They sat waiting for Bea as the lawyer flipped through the contract.


	29. Don't Trust Pigs

The contract the lawyer had laid the agreement out in a simple and easy to understand way. There were no loopholes. The lawyer looked impressed looking through it. It stated that the only time Theo would step in and shut a place down was if more than 3 rules were broken at a time or in the event drugs were being distributed to employees. The contract laid out that Theo would be listed as the owner in the deed, stripping the previous owner of all legal rights to the business and land. After that, it was Theo’s. Theo had no interest in keeping the brothel, Xyra and Cooker had tried and failed multiple times to convince Theo to invest in land businesses. Theo took care of her finances just fine and the last thing she wanted to do was get involved with land dwellers. She would have to figure something out with the ownership of the brothel. 

“I’m amazed you got anyone to sign this,” the lawyer finally spoke up. 

“The threat of getting your trachea ripped out by a six-foot-three lady holding a morningstar is a good motivator,” Theo remarked sarcastically, “Does it hold up?” 

“Yes, if your witness corroborates what your colleague here is accusing then it holds up. The deed would be transferred into your name and you would be the legal owner of Wolf’s Corner,” the lawyer said. 

As simple as that, Theo thought. She would have to figure out what to do about the deed being in her name. They were due to leave Niveal tomorrow and she didn’t trust any of the girls at the moment. Ideally, Theo would have liked a cycle or two to figure out the best gameplan but she wasn’t afforded that luxury. She was deep in thought when Cooker’s snapping fingers brought her back to reality. Bea had entered and Theo instructed her to take a seat next to Wolf's second hand. Theo had her two witnesses for the deed change and her witness to indict Wolf. It was a simple process after that. 

Bea told her side of things and it matched what the girls had said earlier. It had been going on for close to four cycles and Wolf had managed to increase his profit by a sizable amount even with the purchase of loads of ugali. The lawyer listened intently and by the end of the testimony, he was ready to confirm the legality of the transfer, even without Wolf present. As soon as they were done, Theo excused the lawyer and thanked him for his service. She then kicked out the second in command without so much as an explanation as to what he should do next; if he wanted to be in business with someone who played with fire then he was sure to get burnt. Then, Theo sent Bea away after asking her to round up the girls who had stayed sober and send them down to Theo. 

“Business owner is a good look on you,” Cooker teased and hopped back up on the desk. 

Theo sighed dramatically knowing they were left alone Theo threw herself down on the large chair behind the desk and propped her feet up, “What the fuck are we going to do about that?” 

“Keep it,” Cooker stated obviously. 

“You’re supposed to be helpful, that is not helpful. Not another word out of you,” Theo threatened. 

“I’m serious. I think you need to keep it. For the crew and the future,” Cooker advised. 

“What’s one got to do with the other?” Theo shook her head, “I am here twice a length. What good would a business do me? What good would I do a business?” 

“Theo we need a steady stream of income,” Cooker rationed. 

“We have never needed one. We have been doing better than ever and if raids are a little thin then we have what we have saved to fall back on,” Theo shot back. They had been over this already, many times. 

“We need to think longer-term, Theo. You have some of the wildest ambitions I have ever heard and I believe you can get them done. I know you are capable of whatever you set your mind to but your high hopes are just that if you have no financing,” Cooker stated. 

“You are acting like expanding our crew by a few ships is going to cost more than what we have,” Theo said, “Between my savings and the ship fund we can afford an expansion. We’ve done these numbers before.” 

“I’m talking long term, Theo. I'm talking half a classification from now. Not a few extra ships, a real fleet, or even two. And what about your dreams of having a haven of our own, a center for peace and growth? That takes time and resources and money,” Cooker kept insisting. 

Theo had forgotten about those aspirations as of late, she had been so preoccupied she had lost the bigger picture. She had ceased to see the end goal, the reason for pirating. She tried not to kick herself too much over it, that is why she had Cooker and others to support her. They kept the passion for the cause alive when Theo was stuck on the day today. Theo, Xyra, and Cooker, but mostly Theo, would daydream as children about their plans to do good in the world. They wanted their own city to rule over, one just for women and those that had been hurt by the wrongdoings of the government and the ruling class. The city would have a navy, powerful enough to protect and support it. It would be the center of the rebellion where Baethos as they knew it would come crashing down. 

It was a pipe dream, one that a younger Theo would drone on and on about to her older companions. She would get so worked up, her arms would flail about as she passionately described the world she would help rule. Cooker and Xyra never shot down any of her ideas, rather helped guide them towards something more attainable. Since then, they had always dreamed of a place where it was just them, women they had helped, and refugees from the incessant Baethean oppression. The fleet would be used to support the island they inhabited with resources and necessities. It had been a while since anyone had even mentioned anything beyond building a fleet and Theo finally understood Cooker’s pushing. 

“So, you’re saying we keep it to increase the stream of revenue we have?” 

“Aye,” Cooker nodded, “You’re getting one percent a length for all earnings of the businesses under you but that is chump change compared to what we would need if we are going to start seriously considering taking this path in our future.” 

“I don’t feel comfortable taking a business opportunity away from perfectly good candidates here,” Theo said, “Let’s meet in the middle. I’ll take a larger cut of the profits but leave the management to the women. Ten percent and the rest of the profits can be split evenly amongst the women here. And if I am owning this place, then it will no longer be used as a brothel.” 

Cooker shrugged her shoulders, “Fine but you’ll have to break it to them. First, you are telling them that you are leaving them in charge of running a business and then you are telling them Wolf’s Corner can no longer operate as a brothel. Bold.” 

“That reminds me, I also need to tell them that we have to change the name,” Theo chuckled and then stood up and began to pace, feeling too antsy to sit down. 

Her and Cooker began to bounce some ideas back and forth on how to break the news and how best to go about the process. After a little delay, the girls that had been sent for walked into the office. Out of a group of 25 girls, only four were present. Theo sat back down and invited the girls to sit too. She explained to them that she was now the owner of the business and it was no longer a brothel.

“I don’t understand,” one of the girls, Nadine, said, “We’re out of a job?” 

“No, I want you all to take over the business,” Theo said, “Take over the day to day operations in exchange for a portion of the profit.” 

“Just the four of us?” Nadine asked, “I know the other girls have disappointed you but they deserve a chance too.” 

Theo’s heart sunk. Is that what they thought? Why they hadn’t spoken up when Theo was asking them to?

“All of the girls are going to have a chance to earn money here, Nadine. I am not disappointed in them either. I want you to make that clear to them. I am worried about them but not disappointed,” Theo explained.

“Even if we have everyone here to help, that doesn’t mean we know how to run a business. If you said we can keep it a brothel then maybe we would have an idea of where to start but we don’t,” another one of the girls said. It was Nym, someone who had been there since before Theo had become a captain. 

Cooker stepped in, having been the one to come up with that part of the plan, “Tomorrow I’ll come back and take care of that with you. How to manage the books, what to charge, how to manage customers.” 

“And this place can be whatever you want it to be,” Theo added on, “It’s prime real estate as long as you sell drinks it can be anything. A lounge or a bar or-” 

“A theatre?” one of the girls suggested, her voice barely a whisper, Theo didn’t know her name or how long she’d been at Wolf’s Corner but she was most likely new. 

“Come again?” Theo asked, unsure of what the girl had said.

“Nothing it’s stupid,” she wrought her hands together nervously. 

“There are no wrong answers, love. Just let us know what it is and we can discuss the idea,” Theo tried to encourage her. 

She looked around the room to the other girls and then to Cooker and finally back to Theo, she was clearly intimidated but she spoke up anyway, “In my hometown, we used to have a small stage in our local tavern. Made it so it was like a theatre. Only rich cities got those, so we made our own.” 

“What kind of performances were hosted?” Nadine asked. 

“All kinds. We had comedians, puppeteers, singers, plays. A little bit of everything,” the girl explained. 

“I like that idea,” Nym said, “They don’t have one of those on Stumbler’s Row. If we went with bar or tavern we would be drowned out 

“Not necessarily,” Nadine countered, “I think that we are so close to port we will get business regardless. There is never an empty bar in Niveal, isn’t that the saying?” 

The strategizing went on for a while. Theo didn’t rush the process, seeing how the women got more confident in the idea of running the place with every decision made. Theo kept her hand anxiously on her dagger waiting for the moment that Wolf came. She was afraid a scene would be made and she would need to protect herself and those in the room but he never came. They had settled on the theatre idea, stating that it was original enough to attract a lot of business. It would function as a tavern except a small stage was to be built. It was also agreed that the four girls would be in charge of finding adequate medical staff the following sun to help the women wean off the ugali. 

All of the money currently stored in the building would be split evenly amongst all the women and the money would be given to them upon recovery. If they decided they did not want to work there anymore, the sizable amount they were given would be enough to start anew. Theo explained that twenty percent of all profits were to be set aside, ten percent for Theo, and ten percent to reinvest into the business. The rest was to be split evenly among the women assuming they all worked their fair share. At the women’s requests the upstairs rooms would be for the employees so could live rent-free. Theo was elated at that addition and every decision the women made left her more confident with her own decision to keep the business. 

They were in the middle of the discussion of a name change when they heard a loud crash. Theo immediately stood up at the commotion. Wolf was back. 

“Theo!” A voice bellowed from the main room and Theo quickly ran out, telling the girls to stay in the office. 

“Wolf,” Theo said calmly as she left the office, Cooker following and closing the door behind them, “Nice of you to join us.” 

“What the fuck is going on?! Where are all my patrons? Where are my girls?” Wolf huffed, his face red with anger and his breathing heavy and labored. 

“I’ll keep the explanation brief since I’ve got business to attend to with my new establishment,” Theo took a few steps toward the fuming man. He was drunk, Theo could smell it coming off the man, “You fucked up more than I have ever seen anyone fuck up before and the business it took you two classifications to build is now mine.”

“You can’t do that,” he yelled, closing the gap between him and Theo. 

Theo stood her ground and folded her arms in front of her, “I can, actually. Not only can I, but I already did. Deed’s in my name.” 

“Renouncer scum!” Wolf was one step away from foaming at the mouth, “I should’ve killed you the first night you ever walked in here!” 

The insult caused a burn in her stomach, rage. It only burned hotter knowing she couldn’t do anything. She and Cooker had agreed to keep the process as calm as possible, at Theo’s suggestion. She didn’t want the girls to have to witness anything they didn’t have to. 

“Wolf, there is nothing for you here. I’m going to ask you to leave now. Your belongings will be out back tomorrow,” Theo stated and looked over at Cooker, “Please escort Mister Wolf out.”

Cooker roughly grabbed him by the arm and dragged him outside. Wolf didn’t go out without fighting, screaming, and resisting the whole way out. Even after he was kicked out, he parked himself outside the front door and kept yelling about the injustices he was facing. Theo walked back into the office and let the girls know everything was okay. They told Theo that they were worried about spending the night alone and Theo decided she would stay with them until the morning. Her and Cooker just needed to grab some items from the ship to sleep comfortably and they needed to find some food. They instructed the girls to barricade the entrances until they returned just in case Wolf wanted to try anything. Wolf had ceased banging on the door and they figured it was safe to go out. 

“That went better than I could have expected,” Cooker whispered to Theo as they walked out, “Can you tell me I was right? It’s just so I can say I told you so.”

“Not a chance,” Theo chuckled and they began to walk back to the ship. 

“Just admit I was the best companion today, better and less annoying than Xyra. And you should also admit that I was right and owning a business feels great and we are going to be loaded. Then we can move on,” Cooker listed.

Theo rolled her eyes and nudged her friend, “Thanks for advising me. That’s all you’ll get.” 

From behind them, she heard a commotion. Theo heard a few shouts and gasps but before she could turn around she felt a sharp piercing pain in her shoulder. She stumbled forward and fell to one knee, the wind knocked out of her. Fuck, whatever that was hurt. The pain was so intense her ears began to ring and it took her a few seconds to get her head screwed on straight enough to think. Looking back at her shoulder she saw an arrow sticking out of it and her stomach did a flip, that would explain the pain. 

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Theo growled.

She pushed herself back up and spun around to find Wolf standing a few yards away, struggling to load his crossbow with another arrow. 

“Leave him!” Theo demanded when she saw Cooker close to Wolf, about the strike. Theo took large steps forward and reached her arm to her sword. She stopped the action, pain shooting up to her shoulder. He had hit Theo’s fighting arm and rendered it useless, her other arm would have to suffice. She grabbed the sword with her good arm and charged towards Wolf. She brought down her sword with a slash and Wolf brought his crossbow up to block the hit, the wood splintering a bit from the impact. 

Theo yelled out as she brought down another swing, pain leaving her body with the scream. Wolf blocked it again but this time his crossbow cracked. Theo saw the fear in the man’s eyes, drunk and unaware of the major consequences his actions had. He had only seen one side to Theo, the forgiving one. One that let him get away with the smaller rule breaks if it meant the general welfare of the women were kept. He had made the same mistake all her enemies did, underestimate her. 

On her third swing the crossbow broke, the sword hacked right through it. Wolf began to stumble back but Theo was faster than he was and caught up to him with ease. She kicked her leg out and it connected with Wolf’s chest, knocking him on his back. She was in immense pain but she didn’t let it show on her face, not wanting to give him the satisfaction to know he succeeded in hurting her. 

“Not that you’ll be living long enough to be able to use it but I wanted to give you a bit of advice,” Theo said and watched Wolf scramble back. She followed him for a few steps, watching as he pathetically tried to wiggle away before placing her foot on his chest to stop him from moving, “next time you want to kill someone, learn to fucking aim.”

She replaced her foot with her knee and knelt on him, hovering over him so her face was close to his. He closed his eyes and turned his face away, traces of tears were running down his cheeks but he made no noise. He didn’t want to show her the fear in his voice. She pulled out the dagger that she kept strapped to her leg and traced his chest lightly.

“Wolfie, Wolfie, Wolfie,” Theo tutted, “Should’ve just killed you inside and saved me an arrow in the back. Never give a pig the benefit of the doubt. Guess we both learned something today.” 

Theo was very aware of all the people around her but it didn’t stop her from what she did next. She brought the dagger up to his throat and began to press the tip in slowly. The pain in Wolf’s eyes was evident as the dagger drew blood. He began to thrash and squirm but Theo kept him grounded, her knee on his chest. He brought his hands up to resist the dagger but she just pressed in harder, pushing past the resistance of the muscles in his throat. He coughed and struggled for breath as blood started to fill his lungs. It wasn’t a quick death but it wasn’t a slow one either. Theo didn’t want to give the people of Niveal a show but she also wanted to make Wolf pay for the harm he had inflicted. She made sure he struggled and felt the pain. It was twisted but Theo never claimed to be perfect. Theo watched as the life drained from his face, his hands dropping limp by his side.

She stood up from on top of Wolf’s dead body, the arrow still sticking out of her shoulder. Looking around she saw more than a hundred people gathered to see the spectacle. Theo felt woozy, like the feast she had enjoyed earlier in the night was about to come up. Loss of blood, pain, and general shock was setting in but Theo couldn’t let the people see her be weak, she had a reputation to uphold. Plus, walking away from a fight like a badass with an arrow lodged in her back would just fuel the stories told about her. 

She cleared her throat and as best and as firmly as she could she spoke, “You can all go about your business now. Cooker, let’s go.” 

Cooker rushed to Theo’s side and walked alongside her, offering her arm for the Captain to take. Theo refused the help until her step stumbled a bit and she could no longer trust herself to keep herself upright. She leaned on Cooker as they walked as fast as they could to the ship. Theo thanked her gods that Wolf’s Corner was so close to the port. She felt the blood seeping from her wound and she had no idea how much blood she had lost. As they walked they attracted the stares of most passerby's. 

The trek up the ramp and onto the ship proved more difficult than Theo could have ever imagined. On top of the arrow hitting her, she hadn’t helped matters by fighting. Every swing she had made pained her, even though it was with her opposite arm. Cooker helped her get into Tuni’s room as quickly as possible and as soon as they did, Theo collapsed face-first onto the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw/ violence!!! also reminder my twitter is @ habitdyke and my ig is hellhathnofurybook ! let me know what y'all think !


	30. A Night in the Infirmary

Ava was walking back to the ship alone, the group she had gone to The Pinnacle with had left. She didn’t blame them, Ava had been preoccupied for a very long time. There was a grin that wouldn’t go away plastered to her face and anyone that saw her probably thought she was high out of her mind. Her night had been more than she could have ever imagined. She understood now, she got the big deal around sex. She got the reason songs were written about it. Ava could finally see why most people were obsessed with it. She had never felt the way she had felt during her time with the girls, no drugs she had taken or adventure she had been on had given her the same feeling. It wasn't necessarily that sex was better, it was just different. 

There were three things she learned from her experience with her three new friends. First, holy fuck was sex the greatest. Two, holy fuck was sex with women was the greatest, and finally, branching out of her comfort zone was the greatest decision she ever made. Specs and Angeli were not lying when they said that the more people involved the better it was. They all had a great time and Ava felt not an ounce of pressure the whole time. They answered her questions, more so with actions rather than words, not that Ava was complaining. She hadn’t kept track of how long she had stayed in their room but it was more than a few hours. It had been easy and effortless with the girls, their natural banter keeping the mood light throughout Ava’s time with them. 

The only thing that Ava was missing was a kiss. She hadn’t kissed any of the three women, she wasn’t sure why. Was it too intimate? Was she afraid? Was she saving that for someone specific? The irony was not lost on Ava, she would not kiss a girl but she would have sex with three of them at the same time, a fact she had not wrapped her head fully around. Most people probably went their whole life not having sex with more than one person and Ava just did it with three on her first night. Ava had been informed that she was not half bad at it either which had boosted her confidence astronomically. She was sure that she would not have been nearly as skilled had it not been for the careful instruction she was given. 

She had been so exhausted after that she took a small nap, waking up naked and squished in between two other girls. Kit had been the only one left awake and she helped Ava get dressed and go. If Ava hadn’t been so worn out she would have been brave enough to ask Kit for a small one on one round. At least, that is what she liked to think would have happened. She was letting her imagination wander when she spotted a crowd up ahead. 

As she approached the crowd, it started to dissipate. Whatever the fuss was about, Ava only saw the aftermath. There was a middle-aged man’s body lying in the middle of the street, his throat had been punctured. She looked around to try and figure out what happened but collected no clues, the man’s broken crossbow not doing much to shed light on what occurred. Ava continued to walk, looking back at the body until she could no longer see it. What had happened to that poor man? As she walked up the plank and onto the ship she heard a commotion coming from Tuni’s infirmary. It sounded like yelling was coming from inside and Ava sprung into action. She didn’t know why given she was largely untrained and barely knew how to use her dagger. 

She marched up to the door and opened it, the dagger wielded in her right hand. What she found wasn’t danger though, it was Theo being restrained on a medical bed. She was shirtless and face down, screaming out muffled obscenities, Cooker was holding her legs down and Morgana was keeping her right shoulder put by just applying a little bit of weight. Tuni was bending down and examining Theo’s left shoulder and Ava’s eyes were drawn to the arrow sticking out from it. The dead man with the crossbow in the street had been fighting with Theo. Although there was an arrow protruding from her body, Theo seemed to be the winner in that fight. 

“Ava!” Tuni exclaimed when her attention was drawn Ava’s way, “Please come help. I need all the hands I can get. Fetch me some pondeas.” 

Ava stared at Tuni blankly, not understanding what it was Tuni needed. Morgana, who was watching the exchange beckoned Ava over and Ava knew how to follow that command. 

“Hold her down. If she curses at you, don’t take it personally,” Morgana patted Ava on the shoulder and headed to get what Tuni needed. Morgana looked a lot better than she had before, being mobile without any complaints of pain was a big step. 

Ava held Theo down as best she could but Theo thrashing about made it difficult. It was then that Ava noticed Theo’s tattoos. They were hard to miss but the shock of the situation hadn’t allowed her to focus on anything but helping. Theo's entire back was covered in different symbols, drawings, and designs. The tattoos ran from the base of her spine up past her shoulders and into the backs of her arms. Ava had only ever seen Theo’s arms, fully tattooed as well. Ava would have been able to stare at the designs for hours but a jolt under her drew her out of her reverie. 

“Just fucking rip it out Tuni! Get it the fuck out of me!” Theo yelled and Tuni moved the shaft just a little and Theo wailed. 

“That was my finger moving it a touch, imagine it being ripped out. Now shut up and let me examine it or we’ll be here all night,” Tuni scolded and went back to observing. 

Theo had finally managed to stop trying to resist the restraint but Cooker didn’t remove her hands from Theo so Ava didn’t either. Tuni was silent for a few minutes and then listed off a bunch of items for Morgan to fetch her. 

“The materials you need to rip out an arrow are your hands,” Theo stated, “What do you need all that for?” 

“I can’t rip it out, Theo. It has barbs and they made it into your shoulder, he probably shot you from close range. If I rip it out there is no telling the permanent damage it will do to your shoulder. Your fighting shoulder. I need to cut into you,” Tuni explained. 

Theo made a noise that Ava couldn’t quite pinpoint but it seemed like a mix of fear and despair. 

“Lift your head and I will give you some pondeas to drink,” Tuni instructed, holding a cup to Theo’s lips and Theo stubbornly shifted her head away from it. 

“Theo, you need to take a sedative for this. Tuni’s going to be cutting into you with a knife and then digging around in there before removing the arrowhead,” Cooker said sternly but even that couldn’t convince Theo. 

“I’m not taking a sedative. I want to be awake for this,” Theo gave her reason. 

“Always trying to prove something, huh?” Morgana said, “Ava, you’re going to have to hold on tight.” 

Ava did as she was told and prepared to keep Theo as still as possible, Cooker did the same and when Tuni was ready, she began. Theo was trying to keep the screams in, Ava could tell. Her muscles were taut and clenched under Ava’s hands but Theo couldn’t keep them all in. Occasionally a loud yell or a jolt from Theo escaped. Ava had to look away but she assumed Tuni got to a nasty part when the strain under her hands went away. Theo was limp on the table and Ava’s heart dropped. 

“Is she dead?!” Ava asked, panicked.

“She passed out from the pain,” Cooker said, keeping her grip on Theo tight, “Don’t let go, she might wake up.” 

Theo didn’t. She was out cold for the rest of the procedure. Once Tuni was done she thanked everyone and then shooed them away. Cooker walked out and put an arm around Ava. 

“You did good back there,” Cooker complimented with a smile. 

“You killed someone,” Ava got straight to the point. 

“Word sure does travel fast in Niveal, shit,” Cooker chuckled. 

“I saw the body with a crossbow. Saw Theo with an arrow. The dots just connected themselves,” Ava refuted, she had figured it out by herself and she would get the credit for it. 

“Aye,” Cooker shrugged and took her arm off of Ava, “Theo killed him. Fun fact, Theo is also now the owner of a brand new all-woman operated theatre and tavern. A thravern if you will. Just a typical day in Niveal”

“I step away for one day and I miss everything,” Ava complained, “Does the sudden acquisition of assets have anything to do with the dead body?” 

“If you keep using big words like that I’m going to fall in love with you,” Cooker joked, “and yes. Very observant, as always. One owner dies, another takes his place. Although it didn’t quite happen in that order. Long story and I am too tired to tell it. Ask Theo and maybe she’ll tell you. What did you do?” 

“Got books, went to the market, had sex with three people. Y’know, a typical day in Niveal,” Ava said as nonchalantly as Cooker had. 

Cooker laughed and slapped Ava on the back, “You are a funny one. Anyway, I promised a large group of women that I would be protecting them for the night so I will be off to do my protecting.” 

Ava laughed along and decided not to tell Cooker she wasn’t joking. She waved goodbye to the short-haired girl and walked back to her hammock, deciding to sleep in the lower decks after a few nights of being away. Ava had no idea what the last sun in Niveal had in store for her but she would be surprised if it topped that sun. 

\----------

Theo was forced to spend her night in Tuni’s infirmary, lying face down and struggling to sleep. Tuni kept checking on Theo every few hours, that made two of them that had gotten little sleep. Her wound would be checked and redressed and Tuni would make sure Theo was okay. It hurt, the throb of the pain never going away. Theo caved in the third hour of the morning and allowed Tuni to give her a painkiller that let Theo peacefully sleep. She was awoken only four hours later when Xyra rushed into the infirmary. 

“Theo?!” Xyra barged into the room looking around looking for her friend. Once she spotted Theo on her stomach she rushed forward and examined the captain. She traced her hand around Theo’s bandage. concern was set in her features. 

Theo shifted at the intrusion and fully woke up at the touch near her wound. It was tender and she drew in a sharp breath. 

“No one told me,” Xyra said, exasperated, “Why didn’t anyone tell me? I should have been there, Theo.” 

“Morning to you too,” Theo turned her head to the side and looked up at Xyra. Theo flashed her a reassuring smile trying to calm her friend down, “I’m fine, Xy. All in one piece. You were sick as a dog, we didn’t want to worry you. Navi came last night and I told her to keep it from you until you had rested.” 

Theo began to slowly sit up, avoiding the use of her bad shoulder.

“Are you sure you should be doing that?” Xyra asked, looking over at Tuni’s closed bedroom door as if she could magically appear and give the seal of approval. 

“I’ve been on my stomach for half a sun. My ribs are killing me,” Theo said and used her good arm to cover herself, “Hand me a blanket would you?” 

Xyra grabbed a blanket and draped it over Theo’s naked torso, “Navi says you killed Wolf.” 

“Aye but not before the fucker shot me with a crossbow,” 

“Never pegged him as a physical threat,” Xyra commented, disappointed she hadn’t advised Theo to be more careful or something. She took a sun to herself and ended up putting her captain in danger. “I didn’t even know he could wield a weapon.” 

“He can’t,” Theo said with a short laugh, “which is why I’m not dead.” 

“Theo this isn’t funny. You need to be careful,” Xyra reminded her as if Theo didn’t hear that every day. 

“I know but before you rip into me for that I have some news,” Theo said and watched Xyra switch tracks from scolding mode to intrigue mode. 

“Bigger than ‘I got shot with an arrow?’” Xyra asked and Theo nodded her head. 

“I am a Nivealan business owner,” Theo revealed and Xyra’s mouth dropped. 

“Shut the fuck up. Stop trying to get out of trouble,” Xyra said after closing her mouth. She rolled her eyes and refrained from shoving her captain. Theo usually played silly games with Xyra so the likelihood that Xyra believed her was slim. 

“I’m not lying,” Theo laughed a little, “you are looking at the proud owner of a nameless establishment. Cooker has been calling it a thravern.” 

“Excuse me? A what?” 

“Thravern. Theatre in a tavern,” Theo elaborated. As much as she wanted to fight Cooker on the nickname for the place, she knew it was useless to resist. The name would probably stick if she knew her crew. 

“And please tell where you got a thravern from?” Xyra asked but realization dawned as the words left her mouth. 

“Wolf,” they said at the same time. 

“You killed him to get the tavern?” Xyra assumed the worst but Theo didn’t take it personally, Xyra was a pessimist. 

“Aye,” Theo admitted solemnly, wanting to pull Xyra’s leg, “I did. My greed, it was just too much. I’ve always dreamed of an empire of shops and it starts here, Xyra. You must understand what I did was for the best.” 

“Theo.”

“He was giving the girls ugali, Xy. I took the shop from him, legally and with a lawyer. He lost it and shot at me when we were leaving,” Theo explained and Xyra’s concern came back. 

“Theo. You could’ve been killed,” Xyra pointed out quite obviously. 

“Aye, as I can in any other part of the job. People die every day. Since when are you afraid of dying?” Theo asked. 

“I’m not afraid of dying. I am afraid of you dying. You need to shake this attitude of being ready to die at any minute. There is a difference between not being afraid to die and being reckless. You and Cooker should have been more alert given that you had just robbed a man of his whole life’s work,” Xyra lectured and Theo wanted to be angry but she couldn’t. Her first mate was right, they should’ve been more careful. Her and Cooker were joking around when they left, they should’ve had their weapons drawn. 

“You’re right,” Theo conceded. 

Xyra had been expecting more back and forth before Theo saw Xyra’s side so she was at a loss when Theo gave in so easily. She fish-mouthed for a few seconds, fast-forwarding through her argument until she got to her closing remarks, “And we need to train with your other arm. We need to be prepared in case we get raided or attacked while your fighting arm heals.” 

Theo got off the bed she was on, blanket secured around her, “What are we waiting for?” 

“Now?!” 

“Aye, you have a point. If someone raids us, they won’t give a shit if I’m injured, I need to learn how to work with it. Plus, we’ve got the meeting at two in the aftermorning and we set sail right after and I need you to do some things for me between now and then. I’d rather get a training session in before we set sail. There’s never a good time to start, might as well do it now,” Theo reasoned. 

“I disagree,” Xyra said, “a good time to start would be a few suns after you’ve been shot with an arrow.” 

“We’re going to train, Captain’s orders. Now quick, come help me get dressed before Tuni realizes what’s up. I’ll catch you up on everything you missed. ” 

Xyra found a plain white shirt in a cabinet. Tuni kept extra clothes in there since everyone that came by her infirmary seemed to require them. She helped Theo as best as she could to put on the shirt pain-free and Theo did the best she could to catch Xyra up. Once Theo had clothes on, they walked to her quarters. Theo told her about their job, transporting ugali. Xyra was less than thrilled about it but she had the same outlook on it as Cooker, it was a job and someone was going to do it. Theo went over the details of the discovery of what Wolf was doing, the contract, the women, what they had agreed upon as a group. 

“So who’s going to get ownership of it?” Xyra asked. 

“Have you not been paying attention?” Theo asked as she rummaged through her chest of swords and weapons to find one she wanted. It proved to be difficult one-handed but she didn’t want help. 

“Aye,” Xyra said, “you had a meeting with the girls about decisions for the thravern. They are taking over and they are going to get the girls sober before they share management. That’s not what I’m asking. Who are you giving the deed to?” 

“The deed is mine,” Theo explained. 

“Theo, obviously it’s yours. Who are you going to sign it over to?” Xyra repeated, getting frustrated with Theo’s lack of understanding. 

“Xyrabellis. I am the owner. I am keeping it,” Theo stopped looking for a sword and looked at Xyra.

Xyra was once again at a loss for words. She just stared at Theo with a blank expression, blinking slowly. There was a mental wall Xyra couldn’t seem to get around, “You weren’t messing with me before?” 

“No. I have been saying this whole time I own it. I told the girls to give me ten percent of the profit and they can keep the rest,” Theo reiterated and Xyra snapped out of the daze she was in. 

“Theo, we have gotten into screaming matches over this. You said you would never be in business with any land dwellers. You called them all weak and untrustworthy. What’s changed? Did you get poisoned?” Xyra asked and jokingly put a hand over Theo’s forehead. 

“Cooker made me see it was time to take a risk with it. Give land-dwellers a try” Theo pushed Xyra’s hand away and retrieved the weapon she wanted, “We’ve got big plans, Xy. Now let’s get to training.”


End file.
